GERMANY 

JAMES.W.  GERARD 


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SAFE   CONDUCT   FOR    AMBASSADOR   GERARD    AND    HIS    FAMILY,    UNDER   THE    SIGNATURE    OF 
SKlRKT^'^V    Z'MMERMAN,    FEBRUARY    5,    IQI/ 


PUBLISHER'S  NOTE 

'yHIS  special  edition  of  MY  FOUR 
YEARS  IN  GERMANY  is  printed 
from  a  new  set  of  plates,  necessitating  a 
renumbering  of  the  pages  of  the  book, 
although  it  is  complete  and  unabridged 
and  contains  in  every  respect  the  same 
reading  matter  and  illustrations  as  the 
original  edition. 


MY  FOUR  YEARS   IN  GERMANY 
JAMES  W.  GERARD 


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AMBASSADOR  GERARD   SAYING  GOOD-BYE   TO   THE  AMERICANS   LEAVING 
ON   A   SPECIAL  TRAIN.      AUGUST,    I914 


MY   FOUR  YEARS 
IN  GERMANY 

BY 

JAMES  W.  GERARD 

Late  Ambassador  to  the  German  Imperial  Court 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH 

NUMEROUS    PHOTOGRAPHIC 

REPRODUCTIONS  OF  SCENES 

AND  DOCUMENTS 


oyofovoio 


NEW     YORK 

GROSSET  &   DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright,  1917, 
By  George  U.  Doran  Company 


Copyright,  1917,  by  the  PubUc  Ledger  Cofupamf 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CO 


1^  >  r1 


TO  MY  SMALL  BUT  TACTFUL  FAMILY  OF  ONE 

MY  WIFE 


^ 

^ 


FOREWORD 

I  AM  writing  what  should  have  been  the  last  chapter 
of  this  book  as  a  foreword  because  I  want  to  bring 
home  to  our  people  the  gravity  of  the  situation ;  because 
I  want  to  tell  them  that  the  military  and  naval  power 
of  the  German  Empire  is  unbroken;  that  of  the  twelve 
million  men  whom  the  Kaiser  has  called  to  the  colours 
but  one  million,  five  hundred  thousand  have  been  killed, 
five  hundred  thousand  permanently  disabled,  not  more 
than  five  hundred  thousand  are  prisoners  of  war,  and 
about  five  hundred  thousand  constitute  the  number  of 
wounded  or  those  on  the  sick  list  of  each  day,  leaving 
at  all  times  about  nine  million  effectives  under  arms. 

I  state  these  figures  because  Americans  do  not  grasp 
either  the  magnitude  or  the  importance  of  this  war. 
Perhaps  the  statement  that  over  five  million  prisoners 
of  war  are  held  in  the  various  countries  will  bring  home 
to  Americans  the  enormous  mass  of  men  engaged. 

There  have  been  no  great  losses  in  the  German  navy, 
and  any  losses  of  ships  have  been  compensated  for  by 
the  building  of  new  ones.  The  nine  million  men,  and 
more,  for  at  least  four  hundred  thousand  come  of  mili- 
tary age  in  Germany  every  year,  because  of  their  experi- 
ence in  two  and  a  half  years  of  war  are  better  and  more 
efficient  soldiers  than  at  the  time  when  they  were  called 
to  the  colours.     Their  officers  know   far  more   of   the 


viii  FOREWORD 

science  of  this  war  and  the  men  themselves  now  have 
the  skill  and  bearing  of  veterans. 

Nor  should  any  one  believe  that  Germany  will  break 
under  starvation  or  make  peace  because  of  revolution. 

The  German  nation  is  not  one  which  makes  revolu- 
tions. There  will  be  scattered  riots  in  Germany,  but  no 
simultaneous  rising  of  the  whole  people.  The  officers 
of  the  army  are  all  of  one  class,  and  of  a  class  devoted 
to  the  ideals  of  autocracy.  A  revolution  of  the  army 
is  impossible;  and  at  home  there  are  only  the  boys  and 
old  men  easily  kept  in  subjection  by  the  police. 

There  is  far  greater  danger  of  the  starvation  of  our 
Allies  than  of  the  starvation  of  the  Germans.  Every 
available  inch  of  ground  in  Germany  is  cultivated,  and 
cultivated  by  the  aid  of  the  old  men,  the  boys  and  the 
women,  and  the  two  million  prisoners  of  war. 

The  arable  lands  of  Northern  France  and  of  Roumania 
are  being  cultivated  by  the  German  army  with  an  efficiency 
never  before  known  in  these  countries,  and  most  of  that 
food  will  be  added  to  the  food  supplies  of  Germany. 
Certainly  the  people  suffer;  but  still  more  certainly  this 
war  will  not  be  ended  because  of  the  starvation  of  Ger- 
many. 

Although  thinking  Germans  know  that  if  they  do  not 
win  the  war  the  financial  day  of  reckoning  will  come, 
nevertheless,  owing  to  the  clever  financial  handling  of 
the  country  by  the  government  and  the  great  banks,  there 
is  at  present  no  financial  distress  in  Germany;  and  the 
knowledge  that,  unless  indemnities  are  obtained  from 
other  countries,  the  weight  of  the  great  war  debt  will 
fall   upon   the   people,   perhaps  makes  them   readier  to 


FOREWORD  ix 

risk  all  in  a  final  attempt  to  win  the  war  and  impose  in- 
demnities upon  not  only  the  nations  of  Europe  but  also 
upon  the  United  States  of  America. 

We  are  engaged  in  a  war  against  the  greatest  military 
power  the  world  has  ever  seen;  against  a  people  whose 
country  was  for  so  many  centuries  a  theatre  of  devasta- 
ting wars  that  fear  is  bred  in  the  very  marrow  of  their 
souls,  making  them  ready  to  submit  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes to  an  autocracy  which  for  centuries  has  ground 
their  faces,  but  which  has  promised  them,  as  a  result  of 
the  war,  not  only  security  but  riches  untold  and  the  do- 
minion of  the  world;  a  people  which,  as  from  a  high 
mountain,  has  looked  upon  the  cities  of  the  world  and 
the  glories  of  them,  and  has  been  promised  these  cities 
and  these  glories  by  the  devils  of  autocracy  and  of  war. 

We  are  warring  against  a  nation  whose  poets  and  pro- 
fessors, whose  pedagogues  and  whose  parsons  have  united 
in  stirring  its  people  to  a  white  pitch  of  hatred,  first 
against  Russia,  then  against  England  and  now  against 
America. 

The  U-Boat  peril  is  a  very  real  one  for  England. 
Russia  may  either  break  up  into  civil  wars  or  become  so 
ineffective  that  the  millions  of  German  troops  engaged 
on  the  Russian  front  may  be  withdrawn  and  hurled 
against  the  Western  lines.  We  stand  in  great  peril,  and 
only  the  exercise  of  ruthless  realism  can  win  this  war  for 
us.  If  Germany  wins  this  war  it  means  the  triumph  of 
the  autocratic  system.  It  means  the  triumph  of 
those  who  believe  not  only  in  war  as  a  national  industry, 
not  only  in  war  for  itself  but  also  in  war  as  a  high  and 
noble  occupation.     Unless  Germany  is  beaten  the  whole 


X  FOREWORD  • 

world  will  be  compelled  to  turn  itself  into  an  armed  camp, 
until  the  German  autocracy  either  brings  every  nation 
under  its  dominion  or  is  forever  wiped  out  as  a  form  of 
government. 

We  are  in  this  war  because  we  were  forced  into  it: 
because  Germany  not  only  murdered  our  citizens  on  the 
high   seas,   but   also   filled   our   country   with   spies   and 
sought  to  incite  our  people  to  civil  war.    We  were  given 
no  opportunity  to  discuss  or  negotiate.     The  forty-eight 
hour  ultimatum  given  by  Austria  to  Serbia  was  not,  as 
Bernard  Shaw  said,  "A  decent  time  in  which  to  ask  a 
man  to  pay  his  hotel  bill."    What  of  the  six-hour  ultima- 
tum given  to  me  In  Berlin  on  the  evening  of  January 
thirty-first,  19 17,  when  I  was  notified  at  six  that  ruthless 
warfare  would  commence  at  twelve?    Why  the  German 
government,   which  up   to  that  moment   had   professed 
amity  and  a  desire  to  stand  by  the  Sussex  pledges,  knew 
that  it  took  almost  two  days  to  send  a  cable  to  America ! 
I  believe  that  we  are  not  only  justly  in  this  war,  but 
prudently  In  this  war.      If  we  had  stayed  out  and  the 
war  had  been  drawn  or  won  by  Germany  we  should  have 
been  attacked,  and  that  while  Europe  stood  grinning  by: 
not  directly  at  first,  but  through  an  attack  on  some  Cen- 
tral or  South  American  State  to  which  it  would  be  at  least 
as  difficult  for  us  to  send  troops  as  for  Germany.     And 
what  If  this  powerful  nation,  vowed  to  war,  were  once 
firmly  established  in  South  or  Central  America?     What 
of  our  boasted  Isolation  then? 

It  Is  only  because  I  believe  that  our  people  should  be 
informed  that  I  have  consented  to  write  this  book.  There 
are  too  many  thinkers,  writers  and  speakers  in  the  United 


FOREWORD  xi 

States;  from  now  on  we  need  the  doers,  the  organisers, 
and  the  realists  who  alone  can  win  this  contest  for  us,  for 
democracy  and  for  permanent  peace ! 

Writing  of  events  so  new,  1  am,  of  course,  compelled 
to  exercise  a  great  discretion,  to  keep  silent  on  many- 
things  of  which  I  would  speak,  to  suspend  many  judg- 
ments and  to  hold  for  future  disclosure  many  things,  the 
relation  of  which  now  would  perhaps  only  serve  to  in- 
crease bitterness  or  to  cause  internal  dissension  in  our 
own  land. 

The  American  who  travels  through  Germany  in  sum- 
mer time  or  who  spends  a  month  having  his  liver  tickled 
at  Homburg  or  Carlsbad,  who  has  his  digestion  restored 
by  Dr.  Dapper  at  Kissingen  or  who  relearns  the  lost  art 
of  eating  meat  at  Dr.  Dengler's  in  Baden,  learns  little 
of  the  real  Germany  and  its  rules;  and  in  this  book  I 
tell  something  of  the  real  Germany,  not  only  that  my 
readers  may  understand  the  events  of  the  last  three  years 
but  also  that  they  may  judge  of  what  is  likely  to  happen 
in  our  future  relations  with  that  country. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword vii 

CUAPTER 

I     My  First  Year  in  Germany 19 

II     Political  and  Geographical 35 

III  Diplomatic  Work  of  First  Winter  in  Berlin  47 

IV  Militarism  in  Germany  and  THE  Zabern  Affair  59 

V     Psychology  and  Causes  Which  Prepared  the 

Nation  for  War 71 

VI     At  Kiel  Just  Before  the  War 80 

VII    The  System 85 

VIII    The  Days  Before  the  War 98 

IX    The   Americans   at  the   Outbreak  of   Hos- 
tilities         108 

X     Prisoners  OF  War 117 

XI     First  Days  of  the  War:  Political  and  Diplo- 
matic       147 

XII     Diplomatic  Negotiations 160 

XIII  Mainly  Commercial 191 

XIV  Work  for  the  Germans 208 

XV    War  Charities 212 

xiii 


xiv  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PA^ 

XVI  Hate 222 

XVII  Diplomatic  Negotiations.  (Continued)       .     .235 

XVIII  Liberals  and  Reasonable  Men 279 

XIX  The  German  People  in  War 289 

XX  Last 3^7 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Ambassador  Gerard  Saying  Good-Bye  to 
THE  Americans  Leaving  on  a  Special 
Train,  August,  1914  .      .         Frontispiece 

PAGB 

Ambassador  Gerard  on  His  Way  to  Pre- 
sent His  Letters  of  Credence  to  the 

Emperor 24 

The  House  Rented  for  Use  as  Embassy  .  24 

A  Salon  in  the  Embassy 25 

The  Ball-Room  of  the  Embassy      ...  25 

Programme  of  the  Music  after  Dinner 
AT  the  Royal  Palace 60 

The  Royal  Palace  at  Potsdam  ....       61 

Demonstration  of  Sympathy  for  the 
Americans  at  the  Town  Hall,  August, 

1914 61 

Racing  Yachts  at  Kiel 84 

The  Kaiser's  Yacht,  "  Hohenzollern  "  84 

Ambassador  Gerard  on  His  Way  to  His 
Shooting  Preserve 85 

A  Keeper  and  Beaters  on  the  Shooting 
Preserve 85 

Crowds  in  Front  of  the  Embassy,  August, 
1914 108 

Outside  the  Embassy  in  the  Early  Days 
of  the  War 108 

XT 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGB 

At  Work  in  the  Embassy  B all-Room,  Au- 
gust, 1914 109 

Ambassador  Gerard  and  His  Staff      .     .     109 

Cover  of  the  Ruhleben  Monthly        .     .     126 

Specimen  Pi^ge  of  Drawings  from  the 
Ruhleben  Monthly 140 

Alleged  Dum-Dum  Bullets 152 

Page  from  "For  Light  and  Truth"    .     .  230 

The  "Lusitania"  Medal 231 

Ambassador  Gerard  and  Party  in  Sedan  .  238 

In  Front  of  the  Cottage  at  Bazeilles    .  238 

Food  Allotment  Poster  from  the  Charle- 
ville  District 239 

Fac-Simile  Reproduction  of  the  Kaiser's 
Personal  Telegram  to  President  Wil- 
son       313-318 

Fac-Simile  of  Secretary  of  State's  Re- 
quest TO  Ambassador  Gerard  to  Call  in 
Order  to  Receive  Submarine  An- 
nouncement       319 

The  Remodelled  Draft  of  the  Treaty  of 
1799 320-321 

Instructions  Sent  to  the  German  Press 
ON  Writing  Up  a  Zeppelin  Raid  322-323 

Petition  Circulated  for  Signature  among 
Americans  in  Europe 324 

Page  from  Lissauer's  Pamphlet  Showing 
"Hymn  of  Hate" 325 

Instructions  Regulating  Appearance  at 
Court 326^327 

A  Berlin  Extra       .     , 3^* 

xri 


MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 


MY   FOUR  YEARS   IN 
GERMANY 

CHAPTER  I 
MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY 

THE  second  day  out  on  the  Imperator,  headed  for 
a  summer's  vacation,  a  loud  knocking  woke  me  at 
seven  A.  M.  The  radio,  handed  in  from  a  friend  in 
New  York,  told  me  of  my  appointment  as  Ambassador 
to  Germany. 

Many  friends  were  on  the  ship.  Henry  Morgenthau, 
later  Ambassador  to  Turkey,  Colonel  George  Harvey, 
Adolph  Ochs  and  Louis  Wiley  of  the  Nezu  York  Times, 
Clarence   Mackay,   and   others. 

The  Imperator  is  a  marvellous  ship  of  fifty-four  thou- 
sand tons  or  more,  and  at  times  it  is  hard  to  believe  that 
one  is  on  the  sea.  In  addition  to  the  regular  dining 
saloon,  there  is  a  grill  room  and  Ritz  restaurant  with  its 
palm  garden,  and,  of  course,  an  Hungarian  Band.  There 
are  also  a  gymnasium  and  swimming  pool,  and,  nightly, 
in  the  enormous  ballroom  dances  are  given,  the  women 
dressing  in  their  best  just  as  they  do  on  shore. 

Colonel  Harvey  and  Clarence  Mackay  gave  me  a 
dinner  of  twenty-four  covers,  something  of  a  record  at 
sea.  For  long  afterwards  in  Germany,  I  saw  every- 
where pictures  of  the  Imperator  including  one  of  the 
tables  set  for  this  dinner.     These  were   sent  out  over 

19 


20  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Germany  as  a  sort  of  propaganda  to  induce  the  Germans 
to  patronise  their  own  ships  and  indulge  in  ocean  travel. 
1  wish  that  the  propaganda  had  been  earlier  and  more 
successful,  because  it  is  by  travel  that  peoples  learn  to 
know  each  other,  and  consequently  to  abstain  from  war. 

On  the  night  of  the  usual  ship  concert,  Henry  Morgen- 
thau  translated  a  little  speech  for  me  into  German,  which 
I  managed  to  get  through  after  painfully  learning  it  by 
heart.  Now  that  I  have  a  better  knowledge  of  German, 
a  cold  sweat  breaks  out  when  I  think  of  the  awful  Ger- 
man accent  with  which  I  delivered  that  address. 

A  flying  trip  to  Berlin  early  in  August  to  look  into 
the  house  question  followed,  and  then  I  returned  to 
the  United  States. 

In  September  I  went  to  Washington  to  be  "instructed," 
talked  with  the  President  and  Secretary,  and  sat  at  the 
feet  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  State,  Alvey  A.  Adee, 
the  revered  Sage  of  the  Department  of  State. 

On  September  ninth,  19 13,  having  resigned  as  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  New  York,  I  sailed 
for  Germany,  stopping  on  the  way  in  London  in  order  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  Ambassador  Page,  certain  wise 
people  in  Washington  having  expressed  the  belief  that  a 
personal  acquaintance  of  our  Ambassadors  made  it  easier 
for  them  to  work  together. 

Two  cares  assail  a  newly  appointed  Ambassador.  He 
must  first  take  thought  of  what  he  shall  wear  and  where 
he  shall  live.  All  other  nations  have  beautiful  Embas- 
sies or  Legations  in  Berlin,  but  I  found  that  my  two  im- 
mediate predecessors  had  occupied  a  villa  originally  built 
as  a  two-family  house,  pleasantly  enough  situated,  but 
two  miles  from  the  centre  of  Berlin  and  entirely  unsuit- 
able for  an  Embassy. 

There  are  few  private  houses  in  Berlin,  most  of  the 
people  living  in  apartments.  After  some  trouble  I  found 
a  handsome  house  on  the  Wilhelm  Platz  immediately  op- 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  L\  GERMANY  21 

poslte  the  Chancellor's  palace  and  the  Foreign  Office,  in 
the  very  centre  of  Berlin.  This  house  had  been  built 
as  a  palace  for  the  Princes  Hatzfeld  and  had  later  passed 
into  the  possession  of  a  banking  family  named  von 
Schwabach. 

The  United  States  Government,  unlike  other  nations, 
does  not  own  or  pay  the  rent  of  a  suitable  Embassy,  but 
gives  allowance  for  offices,  if  the  house  is  large  enough 
to  afford  office  room  for  the  office  force  of  the  Embassy. 
The  von  Schwabach  palace  was  nothing  but  a  shell.  Even 
the  gas  and  electric  light  fixtures  had  been  removed;  and 
when  the  hot  water  and  heating  system,  bath-rooms, 
electric  lights  and  fixtures,  etc.,  had  been  put  in,  and  the 
house  furnished  from  top  to  bottom,  my  first  year's  sal- 
ary had  far  passed  the  minus  point. 

The  palace  was  not  ready  for  occupancy  until  the  end 
of  January,  1914,  and,  in  the  meantime,  we  lived  at  the 
Hotel  Esplanade,  and  I  transacted  business  at  the  old, 
two-family  villa. 

There  are  more  diplomats  in  Berlin  than  in  any  other 
capital  in  the  world,  because  each  of  the  twenty-five  States 
constituting  the  German  Empire  sends  a  legation  to  Ber- 
lin; even  the  free  cities  of  Hamburg,  Liibeck  and  Bremen 
have  a  resident  minister  at  the  Empire's  capital. 

Invariable  custom  requires  a  new  Ambassador  in  Ber- 
lin to  give  two  receptions,  one  to  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
and  the  other  to  all  those  people  who  have  the  right  to 
go  to  court.  These  are  the  officials,  nobles  and  officers 
of  the  army  and  navy,  and  such  other  persons  as  have 
been  presented  at  court.  Such  people  are  called  hoffiihig, 
meaning  that  they  are  fit  for  court. 

It  is  interesting  here  to  note  that  Jews  are  not  ad- 
mitted to  court.  Such  Jews  as  have  been  ennobled  and 
allowed  to  put  the  coveted  "von"  before  their  names 
have  first  of  all  been  required  to  submit  to  baptism  in  some 
Christian    church.      Examples    are    the    von    Schwabach 


22  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

family,  whose  ancestral  house  I  occupied  in  Berlin,  and 
F'riedlaender-Fuld,  officially  rated  as  the  richest  man  in 
Berlin,  who  made  a  large  fortune  in  coke  and  its  by- 
products. 

These  two  receptions  are  really  introductions  of  an 
Ambassador  to  official  and  court  society. 

Before  these  receptions,  however,  and  in  the  month  of 
November,  I  presented  my  letters  of  credence  as  Am- 
bassador to  the  Emperor.  This  presentation  is  quite  a 
ceremony.  Three  coaches  were  sent  for  me  and  my  staff, 
coaches  like  that  in  which  Cinderella  goes  to  her  ball, 
mostly  glass,  with  white  wigged  coachmen,  outriders  in 
white  wigs  and  standing  footmen  holding  on  to  the  back 
part  of  the  coach.  Baron  von  Roeder,  introducer  of  Am- 
bassadors, came  for  me  and  accompanied  me  in  the  first 
coach;  the  men  of  the  Embassy  staff  sat  in  the  other  two 
coaches.  Our  little  procession  progressed  solemnly 
through  the  streets  of  Berlin,  passing  on  the  way  through 
the  centre  division  of  the  arch  known  as  the  Branden- 
burger  Thor,  the  gateway  that  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
Unter  den  Linden,  a  privilege  given  only  on  this  occasion. 

We  mounted  long  stairs  in  the  palace,  and  in  a  large 
room  were  received  by  the  aides  and  the  officers  of  the 
Emperor's  household,  of  course  all  in  uniform.  Then  I 
was  ushered  alone  into  the  adjoining  room  where  the 
Emperor,  very  erect  and  dressed  in  the  black  uniform 
of  the  Death's  Head  Hussars,  stood  by  a  table.  I  made 
him  a  little  speech,  and  presented  my  letters  of  credence 
and  the  letters  of  recall  of  my  predecessor.  The  Em- 
peror then  unbent  from  his  very  erect  and  impressive  at- 
titude and  talked  with  me  in  a  very  friendly  manner,  espe- 
cially impressing  me  with  his  interest  In  business  and  com- 
mercial affairs.  I  then,  in  accordance  with  custom,  asked 
leave  to  present  my  staff.  The  doors  were  opened.  The 
staff  came  in  and  were  presented  to  the  Emperor,  who 
talked  in  a  very  jolly  and  agreeable  way  to  all  of  us. 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  23 

saying  that  he  hoped  above  all  to  see  the  whole  of  the 
Embassy  staff  riding  in  the  Tier  Garten  in  the  mornings. 

The  Emperor  is  a  most  impressive  figure,  and,  in  his 
black  uniform  surrounded  by  his  officers,  certainly  looked 
every  inch  a  king.  Although  my  predecessors,  on  oc- 
casions of  this  kind,  had  worn  a  sort  of  fancy  diplomatic 
uniform  designed  by  themselves,  I  decided  to  abandon 
this  and  return  to  the  democratic,  if  unattractive  and  un- 
comfortable, dress-suit,  simply  because  the  newspapers 
of  America  and  certain  congressmen,  while  they  have  had 
no  objection  to  the  wearing  of  uniforms  by  the  army  and 
navy,  police  and  postmen,  and  do  not  expect  officers  to 
lead  their  troops  into  battle  in  dress-suits,  have,  never- 
theless, had  a  most  extraordinary  prejudice  against  Amer- 
ican diplomats  following  the  usual  custom  of  adopting 
a  diplomatic  uniform. 

Some  days  after  my  presentation  to  the  Emperor,  I 
was  taken  to  Potsdam,  which  is  situated  about  half  an 
hour's  train  journey  from  Berlin,  and,  from  the  station 
there,  driven  to  the  new  palace  and  presented  to  the 
Empress.  The  Empress  was  most  charming  and  affable, 
and  presented  a  very  distinguished  appearance.  Accom- 
panied by  Mrs.  Gerard,  and  always,  either  by  night  or  by 
day,  in  the  infernal  dress-suit,  I  was  received  by  the  Crown 
Prince  and  Princess,  and  others  of  the  royal  princes  and 
their  wives.  On  these  occasions  we  sat  down  and  did  not 
stand,  as  when  received  by  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
and  simply  made  "polite  conversation"  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  being  received  first  by  the  ladies-in-waiting  and 
aides.  These  princes  were  always  in  uniform  of  some 
kind. 

At  the  reception  for  the  hojjiihig  people  Mrs.  Gerard 
stood  in  one  room  and  I  in  another,  and  with  each  of 
us  was  a  representative  of  the  Emperor's  household  to  in- 
troduce the  people  of  the  court,  and  an  army  officer  to  in- 
troduce the  people  of  the  army.     The  officer  assigned  to 


24         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

me  had  the  extraordinary  name  of  der  Pfortner  von  der 
Hoelle,  which  means  the  "porter  of  Hell."  I  have  often 
wondered  since  by  what  prophetic  instinct  he  was  sent  to 
introduce  me  to  the  two  years  and  a  half  of  world  war 
which  I  experienced  in  Berlin.  This  unfortunate  officer, 
a  most  charming  gentleman,  was  killed  early  in  the  war. 

The  Berlin  season  lasts  from  about  the  twentieth  of 
January  for  about  six  weeks.  It  is  short  in  duration  be- 
cause, if  the  hoffdhig  people  stay  longer  than  six  weeks 
in  Berlin,  they  become  liable  to  pay  their  local  income 
tax  in  Berlin,  where  the  rate  is  higher  than  in  those  parts 
of  Germany  where  they  have  their  country  estates. 

The  first  great  court  ceremonial  is  the  Schleppencoiir, 
so-called  from  the  long  trains  or  Schleppen  worn  by  the 
women.  On  this  night  we  "presented"  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Robert  K.  Cassatt  of  Philadelphia,  Mrs.  Ernest  Wiltsee, 
Mrs.  and  Miss  Luce  and  Mrs.  Norman  Whitehouse.  On 
the  arrival  at  the  palace  with  these  and  all  the  members 
of  the  Embassy  Staff  and  their  wives,  we  were  shown  up 
a  long  stair-case,  at  the  top  of  which  a  guard  of  honour, 
dressed  in  costume  of  the  time  of  Frederick  the  Great, 
presented  arms  to  all  Ambassadors,  and  ruffled  kettle- 
drums. Through  long  lines  of  cadets  from  the  military 
schools,  dressed  as  pages,  in  white,  with  short  breeches 
and  powdered  wigs,  we  passed  through  several  rooms 
where  all  the  people  to  pass  in  review  were  gathered. 
Behind  these,  in  a  room  about  sixty  feet  by  fifty,  on  a 
throne  facing  the  door  were  the  Emperor  and  Empress, 
and  on  the  broad  steps  of  this  throne  were  the  princes  and 
their  wives,  the  court  ladies-in-waiting  and  all  the  other 
members  of  the  court.  The  wives  of  the  Ambassadors 
entered  the  room  first,  followed  at  intervals  of  about 
twenty  feet  by  the  ladies  of  the  Embassy  and  the  ladies 
to  be  presented.  As  they  entered  the  room  and  made 
a  change  of  direction  toward  the  throne,  pages  in  white 
straightened  out  the  ladies'  trains  with  long  sticks.     Ar- 


AMBASSADOR  GERARD  OX    HIS    WAY   TO   PRESENT   HIS   LETTERS   OF 
CREDENCE  TO  THE  EMPEROR 


THE  HOUSE  ON   THE  WILHELM   PLATZ,  RENTED  FOR  USE  AS   THE  EMUASiV 


A   SALON   I.\   THE  AMERICAN   EMBASSY 


THE  BALLROOM   OF   THE  EMBASSY.      THIS   WAS   AFTERWARD  TURNED  INTO  A 
WORKROOM  FOR  THE  RELIEF  OF  AMERICANS  IN   WAR  DAYS 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  25 

rived  opposite  the  throne  and  about  twenty  feet  from  it, 
each  Ambassador's  wife  made  a  low  curtsey  and  then 
stood  on  the  foot  of  the  throne,  to  the  left  of  the  Em- 
peror and  Empress,  and  as  each  lady  of  the  Embassy,  not 
before  presented,  and  each  lady  to  be  presented  stopped 
beside  the  throne  and  made  a  low  curtsey,  the  Ambas- 
sadress had  to  call  out  the  name  of  each  one  in  a  loud 
voice;  and  when  the  last  one  had  passed  she  followed  her 
out  of  the  room,  walking  sideways  so  as  not  to  turn  her 
back  on  the  royalties, — something  of  a  feat  when  tow- 
ing a  train  about  fifteen  feet  long.  When  all  the  Am- 
bassadresses had  so  passed,  it  was  the  turn  of  the  Am- 
bassadors, who  carried  out  substantially  the  same  pro- 
gramme, substituting  low  bows  for  curtsies.  The  Am- 
bassadors were  followed  by  the  Ministers'  wives,  these 
by  the  Ministers  and  these  by  the  dignitaries  of  the  Ger- 
man Court.  All  passed  into  the  adjoining  hall,  and  there 
a  buffet  supper  was  served.  The  whole  affair  began  at 
about  eight  o'clock  and  was  over  in  an  hour. 

At  the  court  balls,  which  also  began  early  in  the  eve- 
ning, a  different  procedure  was  followed.  There  the 
guests  were  required  to  assemble  before  eight-twenty  in 
the  ball-room.  As  in  the  Schleppencour,  on  one  side  of 
the  room  was  the  throne  with  seats  for  the  Emperor  and 
Empress,  and  to  the  right  of  this  throne  were  the  chairs 
for  the  Ambassadors'  wives  who  were  seated  in  the  order 
of  their  husbands'  rank,  with  the  ladies  of  their  Embassy, 
and  any  ladies  they  had  brought  to  the  ball  standing  be- 
hind them.  After  them  came  the  Ministers'  wives,  sit- 
ting in  similar  fashion;  then  the  Ambassadors,  standing 
with  their  staffs  behind  them  on  raised  steps,  with  any  men 
that  they  had  asked  invitations  for,  and  the  Ministers  in 
similar  order.  To  the  left  of  the  throne  stood  the  wives 
of  the  Dukes  and  dignitaries  of  Germany  and  then  their 
husbands.  When  all  were  assembled,  promptly  at  the 
time    announced,   the    orchestra,    which    was    dressed    in 


£6         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

mediaeval  costume  and  sat  in  a  gallery,  sounded  trumpets 
and  then  the  Emperor  and  Empress  entered  the  room,  the 
Emperor,  of  course,  in  uniform,  followed  by  the  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  the  household  all  in  brilliant  uniforms, 
and  one  or  two  officers  of  the  court  regiment,  picked  out 
for  their  great  height  and  dressed  in  the  kind  of  uniform 
Rupert  of  Hentzau  wears  on  the  stage, — a  silver  helmet 
surmounted  by  an  eagle,  a  steel  breast-plate,  white 
breeches  and  coat,  and  enormous  high  boots  coming  half 
way  up  the  thigh.  The  Grand  Huntsman  wore  a  white 
wig,  three-cornered  hat  and  a  long  green  coat. 

On  entering  the  room,  the  Empress  usually  commenced 
on  one  side  and  the  Emperor  on  the  other,  going  around 
the  room  and  speaking  to  the  Ambassadors'  wives  and 
Ambassadors,  etc.,  in  turn,  and  the  Empress  in  similar 
fashion,  chatting  for  a  moment  with  the  German  digni- 
taries and  their  wives  lined  up  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  room.  After  going  perhaps  half  way  around  each 
side,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  would  then  change  sides. 
This  going  around  the  room  and  chatting  with  people  in 
turn  is  called  "making  the  circle,"  and  young  royalties  are 
practised  in  "making  the  circle"  by  being  made  to  go  up 
to  the  trees  in  a  garden  and  address  a  few  pleasant  words 
to  each  tree,  in  this  manner  learning  one  of  the  principal 
duties  of  royalty. 

The  dancing  is  only  by  young  women  and  young  officers 
of  noble  families  who  have  practised  the  dances  before. 
They  are  under  the  superintendence  of  several  young  of- 
ficers who  are  known  as  Vortdnzer  and  when  any  one  in 
Berlin  in  court  society  gives  a  ball  these  Vortdnzer  are  the 
ones  who  see  that  all  dancing  is  conducted  strictly  ac- 
cording to  rule  and  manage  the  affairs  of  the  ball-room 
with  true  Prussian  efficiency.  Supper  is  about  ten-thirty 
at  a  court  ball  and  is  at  small  tables.  Each  royalty  has 
a  table  holding  about  eight  people  and  to  these  people 
are  invited  without  particular  rule  as  to  precedence.    The 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  27 

younger  guests  and  lower  dignitaries  are  not  placed  at 
supper  but  find  places  at  tables  to  suit  themselves.  After 
supper  all  go  back  to  the  ball-room  and  there  the  young 
ladies  and  ofBcers,  led  by  the  Vortanzer,  execute  a  sort 
of  lancers,  in  the  final  figure  of  which  long  lines  are 
formed  of  dancers  radiating  from  the  throne;  and  all  the 
dancers  make  bows  and  curtsies  to  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press who  arc  either  standing  or  sitting  at  this  time  on 
the  throne.  At  about  eleven-thirty  the  ball  is  over,  and 
as  the  guests  pass  out  through  the  long  hall,  they  are  given 
glasses  of  hot  punch  and  a  peculiar  sort  of  local  Berlin 
bun,  in  order  to  ward  off  the  lurking  dangers  of  the  vil- 
lainous winter  climate. 

At  the  court  balls  the  diplomats  are,  of  course,  in  their 
best  diplomatic  uniform.  All  Germans  are  in  uniform  of 
some  kind,  but  the  women  do  not  wear  the  long  trains 
worn  at  the  Schlcppencoiir.  They  wear  ordinary  ball 
dresses.  In  connection  with  court  dancing  it  is  rather 
interesting  to  note  that  when  the  tango  and  turkey  trot 
made  their  way  over  the  frontiers  of  Gemiany  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1913,  the  Emperor  issued  a  special  order  that 
no  officers  of  the  army  or  navy  should  dance  any  of  these 
dances  or  should  go  to  the  house  of  any  person  who,  at 
any  time,  whether  officers  were  present  or  not,  had  al- 
lowed any  of  these  new  dances  to  be  danced.  This  ef- 
fectually extinguished  the  turkey  trot,  the  bunny  hug  and 
the  tango,  and  maintained  the  waltz  and  the  polka  in 
their  old  es<:ate.  It  may  seem  ridiculous  that  such  a  de- 
cree should  be  so  solemnly  issued,  but  I  believe  that  the 
higher  authorities  in  Germany  earnestly  desired  that  the 
people,  and,  especially,  the  officers  of  ihe  army  and  navy, 
should  learn  not  to  enjoy  themselves  too  much.  A  great 
endeavour  was  always  made  to  keep  them  In  a  life,  so  far 
as  possible,  of  Spartan  simplicity.  For  instance,  the  army 
officers  were  forbidden  to  play  polo,  not  because  of  any- 
thing against  the  game,  which,  of  course,  is  splendid  prac- 


28  MY   FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

tice  for  riding,  but  because  it  would  make  a  distinction 
in  the  army  between  rich  and  poor. 

The  Emperor's  birthday,  January  twenty-seventh,  is 
a  day  of  great  celebration.  At  nine-thirty  in  the  morn- 
ing the  Ambassadors,  Ministers  and  all  the  dignitaries  of 
the  court  attend  Divine  Service  in  the  chapel  of  the  pal- 
ace. On  this  day  in  19 14,  the  Queen  of  Greece  and 
many  of  the  reigning  princes  of  the  German  States  were 
present.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  gala  performance 
in  the  opera  house,  the  entire  house  being  occupied  by 
members  of  the  court.  Between  the  acts  in  the  large 
foyer,  royalties  "made  the  circle,"  and  I  had  quite  a  long 
conversation  with  both  the  Emperor  and  Empress  and 
was  "caught"  by  the  King  of  Saxony.  Many  of  the  Am- 
bassadors have  letters  of  credence  not  only  to  the  court 
at  Berlin  but  also  to  the  rulers  of  the  minor  German 
States.  For  instance,  the  Belgian  Minister  was  accred- 
ited to  thirteen  countries  in  Germany  and  the  Spanish 
Ambassador  to  eleven.  For  some  reason  or  other,  the 
American  and  Turkish  Ambassadors  are  accredited  only 
to  the  court  at  Berlin.  Some  of  the  German  rulers  feel 
this  quite  keenly,  and  the  King  of  Saxony,  especially.  I 
had  been  warned  that  he  was  very  anxious  to  show  his  re- 
sentment of  this  distinction  by  refusing  to  shake  hands 
with  the  American  Ambassador.  He  was  in  the  foyer  on 
the  occasion  of  this  gala  performance  and  said  that  he 
would  like  to  have  me  presented  to  him.  I,  of  course, 
could  not  refuse,  but  forgot  the  warning  of  my  prede- 
cessors and  put  out  my  hand,  which  the  King  ostenta- 
tiously neglected  to  take.  A  few  moments  later  the  wife 
of  the  Turkish  Ambassador  was  presented  to  the  King  of 
Saxony  and  received  a  similar  rebuff;  but,  as  she  was  a 
daughter  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt,  and  therefore  a  Royal 
Highness  in  her  own  right,  she  went  around  the  King  of 
Saxony,  seized  his  hand,  which  he  had  put  behind  him, 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  29 

brought  it  around  to  the  front  and  shook  it  warmly,  a 
fine  example  of  great  presence  of  mind. 

Writing  of  all  these  things  and  looking  out  from  a 
sky-scraper  in  New  York,  these  details  of  court  life  seem 
very  frivolous  and  far  away.  But  an  Ambassador  is 
compelled  to  become  part  of  this  system.  The  most  im- 
portant conversations  with  the  Emperor  sometimes  take 
place  at  court  functions,  and  the  Ambassador  and  his  sec- 
retaries often  gather  their  most  useful  bits  of  informa- 
tion over  tea  cups  or  with  the  cigars  after  dinner. 

Aside  from  the  short  season,  Berlin  is  rather  dull; 
Bismarck  characterised  it  as  a  "desert  of  bricks  and  news- 
papers." 

In  addition  to  making  visits  to  the  royalties,  custom  re- 
quired me  to  call  first  upon  the  Imperial  Chancellor  and 
the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  The  other  ministers 
are  supposed  to  call  first,  although  I  believe  the  redoubt- 
able von  Tirpitz  claimed  a  different  rule.  So,  during  the 
first  winter  I  gradually  made  the  acquaintance  of  those 
people  who  sway  the  destinies  of  the  German  Empire  and 
its  seventy  millions. 

I  dined  with  the  Emperor  and  had  long  conversations 
with  him  on  New  Year's  Day  and  at  the  two  court  balls. 

All  during  this  winter  Germans  from  the  highest  down 
tried  to  impress  me  with  the  great  danger  which  they 
said  threatened  American  from  Japan.  The  military  and 
naval  attaches  and  I  were  told  that  the  German  informa- 
tion system  sent  news  that  Mexico  was  full  of  Japanese 
colonels  and  America  of  Japanese  spies.  Possibly  much 
of  the  prejudice  in  America  against  the  Japanese  was 
cooked  up  by  the  German  propagandists  whom  we  later 
learned  to  know  so  well. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  during  the  whole  of  my  Hrst  win- 
ter in  Berlin  I  was  not  officially  or  semi-olficially  afforded 
an  opportunity  to  meet  any  of  the  members  of  the  Reichs- 
tag or  any  of  the  leaders  in  the  bui.iness  world.      The 


30         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

great  merchants,  whose  acquaintance  I  made,  as  well  as 
the  literary  and  artistic  people,  I  had  to  seek  out;  be- 
cause most  of  them  were  not  hoffdhig  and  I  did  not  come 
in  contact  with  them  at  any  court  functions,  official  din- 
ners or  even  in  the  houses  of  the  court  nobles  or  those  con- 
nected with  th-e  government. 

A  very  interesting  character  whom  I  met  during  the 
first  winter  and  often  conversed  with,  was  Prince  Henkel- 
Donnersmarck.  Prince  Donnersmarck,  who  died  De- 
cember, 19 1 6,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years,  was  the  rich- 
est male  subject  in  Germany,  the  richest  subject  being 
Frau  von  Krupp-Bohlen,  the  heiress  of  the  Krupp  can- 
non foundry.  He  was  the  first  governor  of  Lorraine 
during  the  war  of  1870  and  had  had  a  finger  in  all  of  the 
political  and  commercial  activities  of  Germany  for  more 
than  half  a  century.  He  told  me,  on  one  occasion,  that 
he  had  advocated  exacting  a  war  indemnity  of  thirty  mil- 
liards from  France  after  the  war  of  1870,  and  said  that 
France  could  easily  pay  it — and  that  that  sum  or  much 
more  should  be  exacted  as  an  indemnity  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  World  War  of  19 14.  He  said  that  he  had  always 
advocated  a  protective  tariff  for  agricultural  products  in 
Germany  as  well  as  encouragement  of  the  German  manu- 
facturing interests:  that  agriculture  was  necessary  to  the 
country  in  order  to  provide  strong  soldiers  for  war,  and 
manufacturing  industries  to  provide  money  to  pay  for 
the  army  and  navy  and  their  equipment.  He  made  me 
promise  to  take  his  second  son  to  America  in  order  that 
he  might  see  American  life,  and  the  great  iron  and  coal 
districts  of  Pennsylvania.  Of  course,  most  of  these  con- 
versations took  place  before  the  World  War.  After  two 
years  of  that  war  and,  as  prospects  of  paying  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war  from  the  indemnities  to  be  exacted  from 
the  enemies  of  Germany  gradually  melted  away,  the 
Prince  quite  naturally  developed  a  great  anxiety  as  to 
how  the  expenses  of  the  war  should  be  paid  by  Germany; 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  31 

and  I  am  sure  that  this  anxiety  had  much  to  do  with  his 
death  at  the  end  of  the  year,  19 16. 

Custom  demanded  that  I  should  ask  for  an  appoint- 
ment and  call  on  each  of  the  Ambassadors  on  arrival. 
The  British  Ambassador  was  Sir  Edward  Goschcn,  a 
man  of  perhaps  sixty-eight  years,  a  widower.  He  spoke 
French,  of  course,  and  German;  and,  accompanied  by  his 
dog,  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  our  house.  I  am  very 
grateful  for  the  help  and  advice  he  so  generously  gave 
me — doubly  valuable  as  coming  from  a  man  of  his  fame 
and  experience.  Jules  Cambon  was  the  Ambassador  of 
France.  His  brother,  Paul,  is  Ambassador  to  the  Court 
of  St.  James.  Jules  Cambon  is  well-known  to  Amer- 
icans, having  passed  five  years  in  this  country.  He  was 
Ambassador  to  Spain  for  five  years,  and,  at  the  time  of 
my  arrival,  had  been  about  the  same  period  at  Berlin. 
In  spite  of  his  long  residence  in  each  of  these  countries, 
he  spoke  only  French ;  but  he  possessed  a  really  marvel- 
lous insight  into  the  political  life  of  each  of  these  nations. 
Bollati,  the  Italian  Ambassador,  was  a  great  admirer  of 
Germany;  he  spoke  German  well  and  did  everything  pos- 
sible to  keep  Italy  out  of  war  with  her  former  Allies  in 
the  Triple  Alliance. 

Spain  was  represented  by  Polo  de  Bernabe,  who  now 
represents  the  interests  of  the  United  States  in  Germany, 
as  well  as  those  of  France,  Russia,  Belgium,  Serbia  and 
Roumania.  It  is  a  curious  commentary  on  the  absurd- 
ity of  war  that,  on  leaving  Berlin,  I  handed  over  the  in- 
terests of  the  United  States  to  this  Ambassador,  who,  as 
Spanish  minister  to  the  United  States,  was  handed  his 
passports  at  the  outbreak  of  the  Spanish-American  war! 
I  am  sure  that  not  only  he,  but  all  his  Embassy,  will  de- 
votedly represent  our  interests  in  Germany.  Sverbeeu 
represented  the  interests  of  Russia;  Soughimoura,  Japan; 
and  Mouktar  Pascha,  Turkey.  The  wife  of  the  latter 
was  a  daughter  of  the  Khedive  of  Eg)'pt,  and  Mcniktar 


32  MT  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Pascha  himself  a  general  of  distinction  in  the  Turkish 
army. 

An  Ambassador  must  keep  on  intimate  terms  with  his 
colleagues.  It  is  often  through  them  that  he  learns  of 
important  matters  affecting  his  own  country  or  others. 
All  of  these  Ambassadors  and  most  of  the  Ministers  oc- 
cupied handsome  houses  furnished  by  their  government. 
They  had  large  salaries  and  a  fund  for  entertaining. 

During  this  first  winter  before  the  war,  I  saw  a  great 
deal  of  the  German  Crown  Prince  as  well  as  of  several 
of  his  brothers. 

I  cannot  subscribe  to  the  general  opinion  of  the  Crown 
Prince.  I  found  him  a  most  agreeable  man,  a  sharp  ob- 
server and  the  possessor  of  intellectual  attainments  of  no 
mean  order.  He  is  undoubtedly  popular  in  Germany, 
excelling  in  all  sports,  a  fearless  rider  and  a  good  shot. 
He  is  ably  seconded  by  the  Crown  Princess.  The  mother 
of  the  Crown  Princess  is  a  Russian  Grand  Duchess,  and 
her  father  was  a  Duke  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin.  She 
is  a  very  beautiful  woman  made  popular  by  her  affable 
manners.  The  one  defect  of  the  Crown  Prince  has  been 
his  eagerness  for  war;  but,  as  he  has  characterised  this 
war  as  the  most  stupid  ever  waged  in  history,  perhaps  he 
will  be  satisfied,  if  he  comes  to  the  throne,  with  what  all 
Germany  has  suffered  in  this  conflict. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  very  anxious,  before  the  war, 
to  visit  the  United  States;  and  we  had  practically  ar- 
ranged to  make  a  trip  to  Alaska  in  search  of  some  of  the 
big  game  there,  with  stops  at  the  principal  cities  of 
America. 

The  second  son  of  the  Kaiser,  Prince  Eitel  Fritz,  is 
considered  by  the  Germans  to  have  distinguished  him- 
self most  in  this  war.  He  is  given  credit  for  great  per- 
sonal bravery. 

Prince  Adalbert,  the  sailor  prince,  is  quite  American 
in  his  manners.     In  February,  19 14,  the  Crown  Prin«e 


MY  FIRST  YEAR  IN  GERMANY  33 

and  Princes  Eitel  Fritz  and  Adalbert  came  to  our  Em- 
bassy for  a  very  small  dance  to  which  were  asked  all  the 
pretty  American  girls  then  in  Berlin. 

It  is  never  the  custom  to  invite  royalties  to  an  enter- 
tainment. They  invite  themselves  to  a  dance  or  a  din- 
ner, and  the  list  of  proposed  guests  is  always  submitted 
to  them.  When  a  royalty  arrives  at  the  house,  the  host 
(and  the  hostess,  if  the  royalty  be  a  woman)  always  waits 
at  the  front  door  and  escorts  the  royalties  up-stairs. 

Allison  Armour  also  gave  a  dance  at  which  the  Crown 
Prince  was  present,  following  a  dinner  at  the  Automobile 
Club.  Armour  has  been  a  constant  visitor  to  Germany 
for  many  years,  usually  going  in  his  yacht  to  Kiel  in  sum- 
mer and  to  Corfu,  where  the  Emperor  goes,  in  winter. 
As  he  has  never  tried  to  obtain  anything  from  the  Em- 
peror, he  has  become  quite  intimate  with  him  and  with 
all  the  members  of  the  royal  family. 

The  Chancellor,  von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  is  an  enor- 
mous man  of  perhaps  six  feet  five  or  six.  He  comes  of  a 
banking  family  in  Frankfort.  It  is  too  soon  to  give  a 
just  estimate  of  his  acts  in  this  war.  When  I  arrived 
in  Berlin  and  until  November,  19 16,  von  Jagow  was  Min- 
ister of  Foreign  Affairs.  In  past  years  he  had  occupied 
the  post  of  Ambassador  to  Italy,  and  with  great  reluc- 
tance took  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  Foreign  Office. 
Zimmermann  was  an  Under  Secretary,  succeeding  von 
Jagow  when  the  latter  was  practically  forced  out  of  of- 
fice. Zimmermann,  on  account  of  his  plain  and  hearty 
manners  and  democratic  air,  was  more  of  a  favourite 
with  the  Ambassadors  and  members  of  the  Reichstag  than 
von  Jagow,  who,  in  appearance  and  manner,  was  the  ideal 
old-style  diplomat  of  the  stage. 

Von  Jagow  was  not  a  good  speaker  and  the  agitation 
against  him  was  started  by  those  who  claimed  that,  in 
answering  questions  in  the  Reichstag,  he  did  not  make  a 
forceful  enough  appearance  on  behalf  of  the  goremment. 


34         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Von  Jagow  did  not  cultivate  the  members  of  the  Reichs- 
tag and  his  delicate  health  prevented  him  from  undertak- 
ing more  than  the  duties  of  his  office. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  believe  that  von  Jagow  had  a 
juster  estimate  of  foreign  nations  than  Zimmermann,  and 
more  correctly  divined  the  thoughts  of  the  American  peo- 
ple in  this  war  than  did  his  successor.  I  thought  that  I 
enjoyed  the  personal  friendship  of  both  von  Jagow  and 
Zimmermann  and,  therefore,  was  rather  unpleasantly 
surprised  when  I  saw  in  the  papers  that  Zimmermann  had 
stated  in  the  Reichstag  that  he  had  been  compelled,  from 
motives  of  policy,  to  keep  on  friendly  terms  with  me.  I 
sincerely  hope  that  what  he  said  on  this  occasion  was  in- 
correctly reported.  Von  Jagow,  after  his  fall,  took 
charge  of  a  hospital  at  Libau  in  the  occupied  portion  of 
Russia.  This  shows  the  devotion  to  duty  of  the  Prus- 
sian noble  class,  and  their  readiness  to  take  up  any  task, 
however  humble,  that  may  help  their  country. 


CHAPTER  n 

POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL 

MY  commission  read,  "Ambassador  to  Germany." 
It  is  characteristic  of  our  deep  ignorance  of  all 
foreign  affairs  that  I  was  appointed  Ambassador  to  a 
place  which  does  not  exist.  Politically,  there  is  no  such 
place  as  "Germany."  There  are  the  twenty-five  States, 
Prussia,  Bavaria,  Wiirttemberg,  Saxony,  etc.,  which  make 
up  the  "German  Empire,"  but  there  is  no  such  political 
entity  as  "Germany." 

These  twenty-five  States  have  votes  in  the  Bundesrat, 
a  body  which  may  be  said  to  correspond  remotely  to  our 
United  States  Senate.  But  each  State  has  a  different 
number  of  votes.  Prussia  has  seventeen,  Bavaria  six, 
Wiirttemberg  and  Saxony  four  each,  Baden  and  Hesse 
three  each,  Mecklenburg-Schwerin  and  Brunswick  two 
each,  and  the  rest  one  each.      Prussia  controls  Brunswick. 

The  Reichstag,  or  Imperial  Parliament,  corresponds 
to  our  House  of  Representatives.  The  members  are 
elected  by  manhood  suffrage  of  those  over  twenty-five. 
But  in  practice  the  Reichstag  is  nothing  but  a  debating 
society  because  of  the  preponderating  power  of  the 
Bundesrat,  or  upper  chamber.  At  the  head  of  the  min- 
istry is  the  Chancellor,  appointed  by  the  Emperor;  and 
the  other  Ministers,  such  as  Colonies,  Interior,  Educa- 
tion, Justice  and  Foreign  Affairs,  are  but  underlings  of 
the  Chancellor  and  appointed  by  him.  The  Chancellor 
is  not  responsible  to  the  Reichstag,  as  Bethmann-Hollweg 
clearly  stated  at  the  time  of  the  Zabern  affair,  but  only 
to  the  Emp)eror. 

36 


1,6         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

It  is  true  that  an  innovation  properly  belonging  only 
to  a  parliamentary  government  was  introduced  some 
seven  years  ago,  viz.,  that  the  ministers  must  answer  ques- 
tions (as  in  Great  Britain)  put  them  by  the  members  of 
the  Reichstag.  But  there  the  likeness  to  a  parliamen- 
tary government  begins  and  ends. 

The  members  of  the  Bundesrat  are  named  by  the 
Princes  of  the  twenty-five  States  making  up  the  German 
Empire.  Prussia,  which  has  seventeen  votes,  may  name 
seventeen  members  of  the  Bundesrat  or  one  member,  who, 
however,  when  he  votes  casts  seventeen  votes.  The 
votes  of  a  State  must  always  be  cast  as  a  unit.  In  the 
usual  procedure  bills  are  prepared  and  adopted  in  the 
Bundesrat  and  then  sent  to  the  Reichstag  whence,  if 
passed,  they  return  to  the  Bundesrat  where  the  final  ap- 
proval must  take  place.  Therefore,  in  practice,  the 
Bundesrat  makes  the  laws  with  the  assent  of  the  Reichs- 
tag. The  members  of  the  Bundesrat  have  the  right  to 
appear  and  make  speeches  in  the  Reichstag.  The  fun- 
damental constitution  of  the  German  Empire  is  not 
changed,  as  with  us,  by  a  separate  body  but  is  changed 
in  the  same  way  that  an  ordinary  law  is  passed;  except 
that  if  there  are  fourteen  votes  against  the  proposed 
change  in  the  Bundesrat  the  proposition  is  defeated,  and, 
further,  the  constitution  cannot  be  changed  with  respect 
to  rights  expressly  granted  by  it  to  any  one  of  the  twenty- 
five  States  without  the  assent  of  that  State. 

In  order  to  pass  a  law  a  majority  vote  in  the  Bundesrat 
and  Reichstag  is  sufficient  if  there  is  a  quorum  present, 
and  a  quorum  is  a  majority  of  the  members  elected  in 
the  Reichstag:  in  the  Bundesrat  the  quorum  consists  of 
such  members  as  are  present  at  a  regularly  called  meet- 
ing, providing  the  Chancellor  or  the  Vice-Chancellor  at- 
tends. 

The  boundaries  of  the  districts  sending  members  to 
the  Reichstag  have  not  been  changed  since  1872,  while,  in 


POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL        37 

the  meantime,  a  great  shifting  of  population,  as  well  as 
great  increase  of  population  has  taken  place.  And  be- 
cause of  this,  the  Reichstag  to-day  does  not  represent  the 
people  of  Germany  in  the  sense  intended  by  the  framers 
of  the  Imperial  Constitution, 

Much  of  the  legislation  that  affects  the  everyday  life 
of  a  German  emanates  from  the  parliaments  of  Prussia, 
Bavaria  and  Saxony,  etc.,  as  with  us  in  our  State  Legis- 
latures. The  purely  legislative  power  of  the  ministers 
and  Bundesrat  is,  however,  large.  These  German 
States  have  constitutions  of  some  sort.  The  Grand 
Duchies  of  Mecklenburg  have  no  constitution  whatever. 
It  is  understood  that  the  people  themselves  do  not  want 
one,  on  financial  grounds,  fearing  that  many  expenses 
now  borne  by  the  Grand  Duke  out  of  his  large  private  in- 
come, would  be  saddled  on  the  people.  The  other  States 
have  Constitutions  varying  in  form.  In  Prussia  there  are 
a  House  of  Lords  and  a  House  of  Deputies,  The  mem- 
bers of  the  latter  are  elected  by  a  system  of  circle  votes, 
by  which  the  vote  of  one  rich  man  voting  in  circle  number 
one  counts  as  much  as  thousands  voting  in  circle  number 
three.  It  is  the  recognition  by  Bethmann-Hollweg  that 
this  vicious  system  must  be  changed  that  brought  down  on 
him  the  wrath  of  the  Prussian  country  squires,  who  for 
so  long  have  ruled  the  German  Empire,  filling  places, 
civil  and  military,  with  their  children  and  relatives. 

In  considering  Germany,  the  immense  influence  of  the 
military  party  must  not  be  left  out  of  account;  and,  with 
the  developments  of  the  navy,  that  branch  of  the  ser\'ice 
also  claimed  a  share  in  guiding  the  policy  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, 

The  administrative,  executive  and  judicial  officers  of 
Prussia  are  not  elected,  1  he  country  is  governed  and 
judged  by  men  who  enter  this  branch  of  the  government 
service  exactly  as  others  enter  the  army  or  nary.  These 
are    gradually    promoted    through    the    rarious    grades. 


38         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

This  applies  to  judges,  cleriks  of  courts,  district  attorneys 
and  the  officials  who  govern  the  political  divisions  of  Prus- 
sia, for  Prussia  is  divided  into  circles,  presidencies  and 
provinces.  For  instance,  a  young  man  may  enter  the 
government  service  as  assistant  to  the  clerk  of  some 
court.  He  may  then  become  district  attorney  in  a  small 
town,  then  clerk  of  a  larger  court,  possibly  attached  to 
the  police  presidency  of  a  large  city;  he  may  then  become 
a  minor  judge,  etc.,  until  finally  he  becomes  a  judge  of 
one  of  the  higher  courts  or  an  over-president  of  a  prov- 
ince. Practically  the  only  elective  officers  who  have  any 
power  are  members  of  the  Reichstag  and  the  Prussian 
Legislature,  and  there,  as  I  have  shown,  the  power  is 
very  small.  Mayors  and  City  Councillors  are  elected  in 
Prussia,  but  have  little  power;  and  are  elected  by  the 
vicious  system  of  circle  voting. 

Time  and  again  during  the  course  of  the  Great  War 
when  I  made  some  complaint  or  request  affecting  the  in- 
terests of  one  of  the  various  nations  I  represented,  I  was 
met  in  the  Foreign  Office  by  the  statement,  "Wc  can  do 
nothing  with  the  military.  Please  read  Bismarck's 
memoirs  and  you  will  see  what  difficulty  he  had  with  the 
military."  Undoubtedly,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
Chancellor  seldom  took  strong  ground,  the  influence 
which  both  the  army  and  navy  claimed  in  dictating  the 
policy  of  the  Empire  was  greatly  increased. 

Roughly  speaking  there  are  three  great  political  divi- 
sions or  parties  in  the  German  Reichstag.  To  the  right 
of  the  presiding  officer  sit  the  Conservatives.  Most  of 
these  are  members  from  the  Prussian  Junker  or  squire 
class.  They  are  strong  for  the  rights  of  the  crown  and 
against  any  extension  of  the  suffrage  in  Prussia  or  any- 
where else.  They  form  probably  the  most  important 
body  of  conservatives  now  existing  in  any  country  in  the 
world.  Their  leader,  Heydebrand,  is  known  as  the  un- 
crowned king  of  Prussia.     On  the  left  side  the  Social 


POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL        39 

Democrats  sit.  As  they  evidently  oppose  the  kingship 
and  favour  a  republic,  no  Social  Democratic  member  has 
ever  been  called  into  the  government.  They  represent 
the  great  industrial  populations  of  Germany.  Roughly, 
they  constitute  about  one-third  of  the  Reichstag,  and 
would  sit  there  in  greater  numbers  if  Germany  were  again 
redistricted  so  that  proper  representation  were  given  to 
the  cities,  to  which  there  has  been  a  great  rush  of  popu- 
lation since  the  time  when  the  Reichstag  districts  were 
originally  constituted. 

In  the  centre,  and  holding  the  balance  of  power,  sit 
the  members  of  the  Centrum  or  Catholic  body.  Among 
them  are  many  priests.  It  is  noteworthy  that  in  this  war 
Roman  Catholic  opinion  in  neutral  countries,  like  Spain, 
inclines  to  the  side  of  Germany;  while  in  Germany,  to 
protect  their  religious  liberties,  the  Catholic  population 
vote  as  Catholics  to  send  Catholic  members  to  the  Reichs- 
tag, and  these  sit  and  vote  as  Catholics  alone. 

Germans  high  in  rank  in  the  government  often  told 
me  that  no  part  of  conquered  Poland  would  ever  be  in- 
corporated in  Prussia  or  the  Empire,  because  it  was  not 
desirable  to  add  to  the  Roman  Catholic  population;  that 
they  had  troubles  enough  with  the  Catholics  now  in  Ger- 
many and  had  no  desire  to  add  to  their  numbers.  This, 
and  the  desire  to  luiC  the  Poles  into  the  creation  of  a 
national  army  which  could  be  utilised  by  the  German  ma- 
chine, were  the  reasons  for  the  creation  by  Germany 
(with  the  assent  of  Austria)  of  the  new  country  of 
Poland. 

This  Catholic  party  is  the  result  in  Germany  of  the 
Kulturkampf,  or  War  for  Civilisation,  as  it  was  called 
by  Bismarck,  a  contest  dating  from  1870  between  the 
State  in  Germany  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

Prussia  has  always  been  the  centre  of  Protestantism  in 
Germany,  although  there  are  many  Roman  Catholics  is 
the  Rhine  Provinces  of  Prussia,  and  in  that  part  of  Prus- 


40         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

sia  Inhabited  principally  by  Poles,  originally  part  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Poland. 

Baden  and  Bavaria,  the  two  principal  South  German 
States,  and  others  are  Catholic,  In  1870,  on  the  with- 
drawal of  the  French  garrison  from  Rome,  the  Temporal 
Power  of  the  Pope  ended,  and  Bismarck,  though  appealed 
to  by  Catholics,  took  no  interest  In  the  defence  of  the 
Papacy.  The  conflict  between  the  Roman  Catholics  and 
the  Government  in  Germany  was  precipitated  by  the  pro- 
mulgation by  the  Vatican  Council,  In  1870,  of  the  Dogma 
of  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope. 

A  certain  number  of  German  pastors  and  bishops  re- 
fused to  subscribe  to  the  new  dogma.  In  the  conflict 
that  ensued  these  pastors  and  bishops  were  backed  by 
the  government.  The  religious  orders  were  suppressed, 
civil  marriage  made  compulsory  and  the  State  assumed 
new  powers  not  only  in  the  appointment  but  even  In  the 
education  of  the  Catholic  priests.  The  Jesuits  were  ex- 
pelled from  Germany  In  1872.  These  measures,  gen- 
erally known  as  the  May  Laws,  because  passed  In  May, 
1873,  1874  and  1875,  led  to  the  creation  and  strength- 
ening of  the  Centrum  or  Catholic  party.  For  a  long  pe- 
riod many  churches  were  vacant  in  Prussia.  Finally,  ow- 
ing to  the  growth  of  the  Centrum,  Bismarck  gave  In. 
The  May  Laws  were  rescinded  In  1886  and  the  religious 
orders,  the  Jesuits  excepted,  were  permitted  to  return  In 
1887.  Civil  marriage,  however,  remained  obligatory  in 
Prussia. 

Ever  since  the  Kulturkampf  the  Centrum  has  held  the 
balance  of  power  In  Germany,  acting  sometimes  with  the 
Conservatives  and  sometimes  with  the  Social  Democrats. 

In  addition  to  these  three  great  parties,  there  are  minor 
parties  and  groups  which  sometimes  act  with  one  party 
and  sometimes  with  another,  the  National  Liberals,  for 
example,  and  the  Progressives.  Since  the  war  certain 
members  of  the  National  Liberal  party  were  most  bit- 


POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL       41 

ter  in  assailing  President  Wilson  and  the  United  States. 
In  the  demand  for  ruthless  submarine  war  they  acted 
with  the  Conservatives.  There  are  also  Polish,  Hano- 
verian, Danish  and  Alsatian  members  of  the  Reichstag. 

There  are  three  great  race  questions  in  Germany. 
P'irst  of  all,  that  of  Alsace-Lorraine.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  go  at  length  into  this  well-known  question.  In  the 
chapter  on  the  affair  at  Zabern,  something  will  be  seen 
of  the  attitude  of  the  troops  toward  the  civil  population. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  several  of  the  deputies,  sit- 
ting in  the  Reichstag  as  members  from  Alsace-Lorraine, 
crossed  the  frontier  and  joined  the  French  army. 

If  there  is  one  talent  which  the  Germans  superlatively 
lack,  it  is  that  of  ruling  over  other  peoples  and  inducing 
other  people  to  become  part  of  their  nation. 

It  is  now  a  long  time  since  portions  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Poland,  by  various  partitions  of  that  kingdom,  were  in- 
corporated with  Prussia,  but  the  Polish  question  is  more 
alive  to-day  than  at  the  time  of  the  last  partition. 

The  Poles  are  of  a  livelier  race  than  the  Germans,  are 
Roman  Catholics  and  always  retain  their  dream  of  a  re- 
constituted and  independent  Kingdom  of  Poland. 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  that  Poland  was  at  one  time  per- 
haps the  most  powerful  kingdom  of  Europe,  with  a  popu- 
lation numbering  twenty  millions  and  extending  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  Carpathians  and  the  Black  Sea,  including  in 
its  territory  the  basins  of  the  Warta,  Vistula,  Dwina, 
Dnieper  and  Upper  Dniester,  and  that  it  had  under  its 
dominion  besides  Poles  proper  and  the  Baltic  Slavs,  the 
Lithuanians,  the  White  Russians  and  the  Little  Russians 
or  Ruthenians. 

The  Polish  aristocracy  was  absolutely  incapable  of 
governing  its  own  country,  which  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the 
intrigues  of  Frederick  the  Great  and  the  two  Empresses, 
Maria  Theresa  of  Austria  and  Catherine  of  Russia.  The 
last  partition  of  Poland  was  in  the  year  179-5. 


42  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Poscn,  at  one  time  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  old  king- 
dom of  Poland,  is  the  intellectual  centre  of  that  part  of 
Poland  which  has  been  incorporated  into  Prussia.  For 
years  Prussia  has  alternately  cajoled  and  oppressed  the 
Poles,  and  has  made  every  endeavour  to  replace  the 
Polish  inhabitants  with  German  colonists.  A  commis- 
sion has  been  established  which  buys  estates  from  Poles 
and  sells  them  to  Germans.  This  commission  has  the 
power  of  condemning  the  lands  of  Poles,  taking  these 
lands  from  them  by  force,  compensating  them  at  a  rate 
determined  by  the  commission  and  settling  Germans  on 
the  lands  so  seized.  This  commission  has  its  headquar- 
ters in  Posen.  The  result  has  not  been  successful.  All 
the  country  side  surrounding  Posen  and  the  city  itself  are 
divided  into  two  factions.  By  going  to  one  hotel  or  the 
other  you  announce  that  you  are  pro-German  or  pro- 
Polish.  Poles  will  not  deal  in  shops  kept  by  Germans 
or  in  shops  unless  the  signs  are  in  Polish. 

The  sons  of  Germans  who  have  settled  in  Poland  un- 
der the  protection  of  the  commission  often  marry  Polish 
women.  The  invariable  result  of  these  mixed  marriages 
is  that  the  children  are  Catholics  and  Poles.  Polish  dep- 
uties voting  as  Poles  sit  in  the  Prussian  legislature  and  in 
the  Reichstag,  and  if  a  portion  of  the  old  Kingdom  of 
Poland  is  made  a  separate  country  at  the  end  of  this  war, 
it  will  have  the  effect  of  making  the  Poles  in  Prussia  more 
restless  and  more  aggressive  than  ever. 

In  order  to  win  the  sympathies  of  the  Poles,  the  Em- 
peror caused  a  royal  castle  to  be  built  within  recent  years 
in  the  city  of  Posen,  and  appointed  a  popular  Polish  gen- 
tleman who  had  served  in  the  Prussian  army  and  was  at- 
tached to  the  Emperor,  the  Count  Hutten-Czapski,  as  its 
lord-warden.  In  this  castle  was  a  very  beautiful  Byzan- 
tine chapel  built  from  designs  especially  selected  by  the 
Emperor.      In  January,  19 14,  we  went  with  Allison  Ar- 


POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL        43 

mour  and  the  Cassatts,  Mrs.  Wiltsee  and  Mrs.  White- 
house  on  a  trip  to  Posen  to  see  this  chapel. 

Some  of  our  German  friends  tried  to  play  a  joke  on  us 
by  telling  us  that  the  best  hotel  was  the  hotel  patronised 
by  the  Poles.  To  have  gone  there  would  have  been  to 
declare  ourselves  anti-German  and  pro-Polish,  but  we 
were  warned  in  time.  The  castle  has  a  large  throne 
room  and  ball-room;  in  the  hall  is  a  stuffed  aurochs  killed 
by  the  Emperor.  The  aurochs  is  a  species  of  buffalo 
greatly  resembling  those  which  used  to  roam  our  west- 
ern prairies.  The  breed  has  been  preserved  on  certain 
great  estates  in  eastern  Germany  and  in  the  hunting  for- 
ests of  the  Czar  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Warsaw. 

Some  of  the  Poles  told  me  that  at  the  first  attempt  to 
give  a  court  ball  in  this  new  castle  the  Polish  population 
in  the  streets  threw  ink  through  the  carriage  windows  on 
the  dresses  of  the  ladies  going  to  the  ball  and  thus  made 
it  a  failure.  The  chapel  of  the  castle  is  very  beautiful 
and  is  a  great  credit  to  the  Emperor's  taste  as  an  archi- 
tect. 

While  being  shown  through  the  Emperor's  private 
apartments  in  this  castle,  I  noticed  a  saddle  on  a  sort  of 
elevated  stool  in  front  of  a  desk.  I  asked  the  guide  what 
this  was  for:  he  told  me  that  the  Emperor,  when  work- 
ing, always  sits  in  a  saddle. 

In  Posen,  in  a  book-store,  the  proprietor  brought  out 
for  me  a  number  of  books  caricaturing  the  German  rule  of 
Alsace-Lorraine.  It  is  curious  that  a  community  of  in- 
terests should  make  a  market  for  these  books  in  Polish 
Posen. 

Although  not  so  well  advertised,  the  Polish  question 
is  as  acute  as  that  of  Alsace-Lorraine. 

After  its  successful  war  in  1866  against  Austria,  Ba- 
varia, Saxony,  Baden,  Hanover,  etc.,  Prussia  became  pos- 
sessed of  the  two  duchies  of  Schleswig-Holstein,  which 
are  to  the  south  of  Denmark  on  the  Jutland  Peninsula. 


44         MT  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Here,  strangely  enough,  there  is  a  Danish  question.  A 
number  of  Danes  inhabit  these  duchies  and  have  been  ir- 
ritated by  the  Prussian  officials  and  officers  into  preserv- 
ing their  national  feeling  intact  ever  since  1866.  Gall- 
ing restrictions  have  been  made,  the  very  existence  of 
which  intensifies  the  hatred  and  prevents  the  assimilation 
of  these  Danes.  For  instance,  Amundsen,  the  Arctic  ex- 
plorer, was  forbidden  to  lecture  in  Danish  in  these  duch- 
ies during  the  winter  of  19 13-14,  and  there  were  regu- 
lations enforced  preventing  more  than  a  certain  number 
of  these  Danish  people  from  assembling  in  a  hotel,  as  well 
as  regulations  against  the  employment  of  Danish  servants. 

In  1866,  after  its  successful  war,  Prussia  wiped  out 
the  old  kingdom  of  Hanover  and  drove  its  king  into  exile 
in  Austria.  To-day  there  is  still  a  party  of  protest 
against  this  aggression.  The  Kaiser  believes,  however, 
that  the  ghost  of  the  claim  of  the  Kings  of  Hanover  was 
laid  when  he  married  his  only  daughter  to  the  heir  of  the 
House  of  Hanover  and  gave  the  young  pair  the  vacant 
Duchy  of  Brunswick.  That  this  young  man  will  inherit 
the  great  Guelph  treasure  was  no  drawback  to  the  match 
in  the  eyes  of  those  in  Berlin. 

There  is  a  hatred  of  Prussia  in  other  parts  of  Germany, 
but  coupled  with  so  much  fear  that  it  will  never  take  prac- 
tical shape.  In  Bavaria,  for  example,  even  the  comic 
newspapers  have  for  years  ridiculed  the  Prussians  and 
the  House  of  Hohenzollern.  The  smashing  defeat  by 
Prussia  of  Austria  and  the  allied  German  States,  Bavaria, 
Saxony,  Hesse,  Hanover,  etc.,  in  1866,  and  the  growth 
of  Prussianism  since  then  in  all  of  these  countries,  keep 
the  people  from  any  overt  act.  It  is  a  question,  perhaps, 
as  to  how  these  countries,  especially  Bavaria,  would  act 
in  case  of  the  utter  defeat  of  Germany.  But  at  present 
they  must  be  counted  on  only  as  faithful  servants,  in  a 
military  way,  of  the  German  Emperor. 

Montesquieu,   the   author  of  the   "Esprit  des  Lois," 


POLITICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL        45 

says,  "All  law  comes  from  the  soil,"  and  it  has  been 
claimed  that  residence  in  the  hot  climate  of  the  tropics  in 
some  measure  changes  Anglo-Saxon  character.  It  is, 
therefore,  always  well  in  judging  national  character  to 
know  something  of  the  physical  characteristics  and  cli- 
mate of  the  country  which  a  nation  inhabits. 

The  heart  of  modern  Germany  is  the  great  north  cen- 
tral plain  which  comprises  practically  all  of  the  original 
kingdom  of  Prussia,  stretching  northward  from  the  Saxon 
and  Hartz  mountains  to  the  North  and  Baltic  seas.  It 
is  from  this  dreary  and  infertile  plain  that  for  many  cen- 
turies conquering  military  races  have  poured  over  Eu- 
rope. The  climate  Is  not  so  cold  in  winter  as  that  of  the 
northern  part  of  the  United  States.  There  is  much  rain 
and  the  winter  skies  are  so  dark  that  the  absence  of  the 
sun  must  have  some  effect  upon  the  character  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  Saxons  inhabit  a  more  mountainous  country; 
Wiirttemberg  and  Baden  are  hilly;  Bavaria  Is  a  land  of 
beauty,  diversified  with  lovely  lakes  and  mountains.  The 
soft  outlines  of  the  vine-covered  hills  of  the  Rhine  Val- 
ley have  long  been  the  admiration  of  travellers. 

The  Inhabitants  of  Prussia  were  originally  not  Ger- 
manic, but  rather  Slavish  In  type;  and.  Indeed,  to-day  in 
the  forest  of  the  River  Spree,  on  which  Berlin  is  situated, 
and  only  about  fifty  miles  from  that  city,  there  still  dwell 
descendants  of  the  original  Wendlsh  Inhabitants  of  the 
country  who  speak  the  Wendlsh  language.  The  wet- 
nurses,  whose  picturesque  dress  Is  so  noticeable  on  the 
streets  of  Berlin,  all  come  from  this  Wendlsh  colony, 
which  has  been  preserved  through  the  many  wars  that 
have  swept  over  this  part  of  Germany  because  of  the 
refuge  afforded  in  the  swamps  and  forests  of  this  district. 

The  Inhabitants  of  the  Rhine  \^alley  drink  wine  instead 
of  beer.  They  are  more  lively  In  their  disposition  than 
the  Prussians,  Saxons  and  Bavarians,  who  are  of  a 
heavy  and  phlegmatic  na^ture.     The  Bavarians  are  noted 


46         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

for  their  prowess  as  beer  drinkers,  and  it  is  not  at  all  un- 
usual for  prosperous  burghers  of  Munich  to  dispose  of 
thirty  large  glasses  of  beer  in  a  day;  hence  the  cures 
which  exist  all  over  Germany  and  where  the  average  Ger- 
man business  man  spends  part,  at  least,  of  his  annual  va- 
cation. 

In  peace  times  the  Germans  are  heavy  eaters.  As 
some  one  says,  "It  is  not  true  that  the  Germans  eat  all 
the  time,  but  they  eat  all  the  time  except  during  seven 
periods  of  the  day  when  they  take  their  meals."  And 
it  is  a  fact  that  prosperous  merchants  of  Berlin,  before  the 
war,  had  seven  meals  a  day;  first  breakfast  at  a  comfort- 
ably early  hour;  second  breakfast  at  about  eleven,  of 
perhaps  a  glass  of  milk  or  perhaps  a  glass  of  beer  and 
sandwiches;  a  very  heavy  lunch  of  four  or  five  courses 
with  wine  and  beer;  coffee  and  cakes  at  three;  tea  and 
sandwiches  or  sandwiches  and  beer  at  about  five;  a  strong 
dinner  with  several  kinds  of  wines  at  about  seven  or 
seven-thirty;  and  a  substantial  supper  before  going  to  bed. 

The  Germans  are  wonderful  judges  of  wines,  and,  at 
any  formal  dinner,  use  as  many  as  eight  varieties.  The 
best  wine  is  passed  in  glasses  on  trays,  and  the  guests  are 
not  expected,  of  course,  to  take  this  wine  unless  they  ac- 
tually desire  to  drink  it.  I  know  one  American  woman 
who  was  stopping  at  a  Prince's  castle  in  Hungary  and 
who,  on  the  first  night,  allowed  the  butler  to  fill  her 
glasses  with  wine  which  she  did  not  drink.  The  second 
evening  the  butler  passed  her  sternly  by,  and  she  was  of- 
fered no  more  wine  during  her  stay  in  the  castle. 

Many  of  the  doctors  who  were  with  me  thought  that 
the  heavy  eating  and  large  consumption  of  wine  and  beer 
had  unfavourably  affected  the  German  national  character, 
and  had  made  the  people  more  aggressive  and  irritable 
and  consequently  readier  for  war.  The  influence  of  diet 
on  national  character  should  not  be  under-estimated. 
Meat-eating  nations  have  always  ruled  vegetarians. 


CHAPTER  III 

DIPLOMATIC   WORK  OF    FIRST   WINTER   IN   BERLIN 

DURING  this  first  winter  in  Berlin,  I  spent  each 
morning  in  the  Embassy  office,  and,  if  I  had  any 
business  at  the  Foreign  Office,  called  there  about  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  It  was  the  custom  that  all  Am- 
bassadors should  call  on  Tuesday  afternoons  at  the  For- 
eign Office,  going  in  to  see  the  Foreign  Minister  in  the 
order  of  their  arrival  in  the  waiting-room,  and  to  have  a 
short  talk  with  him  about  current  diplomatic  affairs. 

In  the  previous  chapter  I  have  given  a  detailed  account 
of  the  ceremonies  of  court  life,  because  a  knowledge  of 
this  life  is  essential  to  a  grasp  of  the  spirit  which  ani- 
mates those  ruling  the  destinies  of  the  German  Empire. 

My  first  winter,  however,  was  not  all  cakes  and  ale. 
There  were  several  interesting  bits  of  diplomatic  work. 
First,  we  were  then  engaged  in  our  conflict  with  Huerta, 
the  Dictator  of  Mexico,  and  it  was  part  of  my  work  to 
secure  from  Germany  promises  that  she  would  not  recog- 
nise this  Mexican  President. 

I  also  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  In  endeavouring  to 
get  the  German  Government  to  take  part  officially  in  the 
San  Francisco  Fair,  but,  so  far  as  I  could  make  out.  Great 
Britain,  probably  at  the  instance  of  Germany,  seemed  to 
have  entered  into  some  sort  of  agreement,  or  at  any  rate 
a  tacit  understanding,  that  neither  country  would  partici- 
pate officially  in  this  Exposition. 

After  the  lamentable  failure  of  the  Jamestown  Exposi- 
tion, the  countries  of  Europe  were  certainly  not  to  be 
blamed  for  not  spending  their  money  In  aid  of  a  similar 

47 


48  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

enterprise.  But  I  believe  that  the  ittitude  of  Germany 
had  a  deeper  significance,  and  that  certain,  at  least,  of 
the  German  statesmen  had  contemplated  a  rapproche- 
ment with  Great  Britain  and  a  mutual  spanking  of  Amer- 
ica and  its  Monroe  Doctrine  by  these  two  great  powers. 
Later  I  was  informed,  by  a  man  high  in  the  German  For- 
eign Office,  that  Germany  had  proposed  to  Great  Britain 
a  joint  intervention  in  Mexico,  an  invasion  which  would 
have  put  an  end  forever  to  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  of 
course  to  be  followed  by  the  forceful  colonisation  of  Cen- 
tral and  South  America  by  European  Powers.  I  was  told 
that  Great  Britain  refused.  But  whether  this  proposi- 
tion and  refusal  in  fact  were  made,  can  be  learned  from 
the  archives  of  the  British  Foreign  Office. 

During  this  period  of  trouble  with  Mexico,  the  Ger- 
man Press,  almost  without  exception,  and  especially  that 
part  of  it  controlled  by  the  Government  and  by  the  Con- 
servatives or  Junkers,  was  most  bitter  in  its  attitude 
towards  America. 

The  reason  for  this  was  the  underlying  hatred  of  an 
autocracy  for  a  successful  democracy,  envy  of  the  wealth, 
liberty  and  commercial  success  of  America,  and  a  deep 
and  strong  resentment  against  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
which  prevented  Germany  from  using  her  powerful  fleet 
and  great  military  force  to  seize  a  foothold  in  the  West- 
ern hemisphere. 

Germany  came  late  into  the  field  of  colonisation  in  her 
endeavour  to  find  "a  place  in  the  sun."  The  colonies  se- 
cured were  not  habitable  by  white  men.  Togo,  Kam- 
eroons,  German  East  Africa,  are  too  tropical  in  climate, 
too  subject  to  tropical  diseases,  ever  to  become  success- 
ful German  colonies.  German  Southwest  Africa  has  a 
more  healthy  climate  but  is  a  barren  land.  About  the 
only  successful  industry  there  has  been  that  of  gathering 
the  small  diamonds  that  were  discovered  in  the  sands  of 


DIPLOMA'I'IC  WORK  OF  FIRST  WINTER      49 

the  beache-s  aixl  of  the  deserts  running  back  from  the 
sea. 

On  the  earnest  request  of  Secretary  Bryan,  I  endeav- 
oured to  persuade  the  German  authorities  to  have  Ger- 
many become  a  signatory  to  the  so-called  Bryan  Peace 
1  reaties.  After  many  efforts  and  long  interviews,  von 
Jagow,  the  Foreign  Minister,  finally  told  me  that  Ger- 
many would  not  sign  these  treaties  because  the  greatest 
asset  of  Germany  in  war  was  her  readiness  for  a  sudden 
assault,  that  they  had  no  objection  to  signing  the  treaty 
with  America,  but  that  they  feared  they  would  then  be 
immediately  asked  to  sign  similar  treaties  with  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Russia,  that  if  they  refused  to  sign 
with  these  countries  the  refusal  would  almost  be  equiv- 
alent to  a  declaration  of  war,  and,  if  they  did  sign,  in- 
tending in  good  faith  to  stand  by  the  treaty,  that  Ger- 
many would  be  deprived  of  her  greatest  asset  in  war, 
namely,  her  readiness  for  a  sudden  and  overpowering 
attack. 

I  also,  during  this  first  winter,  studied  and  made  reports 
on  the  commercial  situation  of  Germany  and  especially 
the  German  discriminations  against  American  goods.  To 
these  matters  I  shall  refer  in  more  detail  in  another  chap- 
ter. 

Opposition  and  attention  to  the  oil  monopoly  project 
also  occupied  a  great  part  of  my  working  hours.  Pe- 
troleum is  used  very  extensively  in  Germany  for  illumi- 
nating purposes  by  the  poorer  part  of  the  population, 
especially  in  the  farming  villages  and  industrial  towns. 
This  oil  used  in  Germany  comes  from  two  sources  of  sup- 
ply, from  America  and  from  the  oil  wells  of  Galicia  and 
Roumania.  The  German  American  Oil  Company  there, 
through  which  the  American  oil  was  distributed,  although 
a  German  company,  was  controlled  by  American  capital, 
and  German  capital  was  largely  interested  in  the  Galician 
and  Roumanian  oil  fields.     The   oil   from  Galacia   and 


50  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Roumania  is  not  so  good  a  quality  as  that  imported  from 
America. 

Before  my  arrival  in  Germany  the  government  had 
proposed  a  law  creating  the  oil  monopoly;  that  is  to  say, 
a  company  was  to  be  created,  controlled  by  the  govern- 
ment for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  the  entire  oil  busi- 
ness of  Germany,  and  no  other  person  or  company,  by  its 
provisions,  was  to  be  allowed  to  sell  any  illuminating  oil 
or  similar  products  in  the  Empire.  The  bill  provided 
that  the  business  of  those  engaged  in  the  wholesale  sell- 
ing of  oil,  and  their  plants,  etc.,  should  be  taken  over  by 
this  government  company,  condemned  and  paid  for.  The 
German  American  Company,  however,  had  also  a  retail 
business  and  plant  throughout  Germany  for  which  it  was 
proposed  that  no  compensation  should  be  given.  The 
government  bill  also  contained  certain  curious  "jokers"; 
for  instance,  it  provided  for  the  taking  over  of  all  plants 
"within  the  customs  limit  of  the  German  Empire,"  thus 
leaving  out  of  the  compensation  a  refinery  which  was  sit- 
uated in  the  free  port  of  Hamburg,  although,  of  course, 
by  operation  of  this  monopoly  bill  the  refinery  was  ren- 
dered useless  to  the  American  controlled  company  which 
owned  it. 

In  the  course  of  this  investigation  it  came  to  light  that 
the  Prussian  state  railways  were  used  as  a  means  of  dis- 
criminating against  the  American  oil.  American  oil  came 
to  Germany  through  the  port  of  Hamburg,  and  the  Gali- 
cian  and  Roumanian  oil  through  the  frontier  town  of 
Oderberg.  Taking  a  delivery  point  equally  distant  be- 
tween Oderberg  and  Hamburg,  the  rate  charged  on  oil 
from  Hamburg  to  this  point  was  twice  as  great  as  that 
charged  for  a  similar  quantity  of  oil  from  Oderberg. 

I  took  up  this  fight  on  the  line  that  the  company  must 
be  compensated  for  all  of  its  property,  that  used  in  re- 
tail as  well  as  in  wholesale  business,  and,  second,  that  it 
must  be  compensated  for  the  good-will  of  its  business, 


DIPLOMATIC  WORK  OF  FIRST  WINTER      51 

which  it  had  built  up  through  a  number  of  years  by  the 
expenditure  of  very  large  sums  of  money.  Of  course 
where  a  company  has  been  in  operation  for  years  and  is 
continually  advertising  its  business,  its  good-will  often  is 
its  greatest  asset  and  has  often  been  built  up  by  the  great- 
est expenditure  of  money.  For  instance,  in  buying  a  suc- 
cessful newspaper,  the  value  does  not  lie  in  the  real-es- 
tate, presses,  etc.,  but  in  the  good-will  of  the  newspaper, 
the  result  of  years  of  work,  and  expensive  advertising. 

I  made  no  objection  that  the  German  government  did 
not  have  a  perfect  right  to  create  this  monopoly  and  to 
put  the  American  controlled  company  entirely  out  of  the 
field,  but  insisted  upon  a  fair  compensation  for  all  their 
property  and  good-will.  Even  a  fair  compensation  for 
the  property  and  good-will  would  have  started  the  gov- 
ernment monopoly  company  with  a  large  debt  upon  which 
it  would  have  been  required  to  pay  interest,  and  this  in- 
terest, of  course,  would  have  been  added  to  the  cost  of 
oil  to  the  German  consumers.  In  my  final  conversation 
on  the  subject  with  von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  he  said, 
"You  don't  mean  to  say  that  President  Wilson  and  Sec- 
retary Bryan  will  do  anything  for  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany?" I  answered  that  every  one  in  America  knew 
that  the  Standard  Oil  Company  had  neither  influence  with 
nor  control  over  President  Wilson  and  Secretary  Bryan, 
but  that  they  both  could  and  would  give  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  the  same  measure  of  protection  which  any 
American  citizen  doing  business  abroad  had  a  right  to 
expect  from  his  government.  I  also  said  that  I  thought 
they  had  done  enough  for  the  Germans  interested  in  the 
Galician  and  Roumanian  oil  fields  when  they  had  used  the 
Prussian  state  railways  to  give  these  oil  producers  an 
unfair  advantage  over  those  importing  American  oil. 

Shortly  after  this  the  question  of  the  creation  of  this 
oil  monopoly  was  dropped  and  naturally  has  not  been  re- 
vived during  the  war,  and  I  very  much  doubt  whether, 


52         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

after  the  war,  the  people  of  liberalised  Germany  will  con- 
sent to  pay  more  for  inferior  oil  in  order  to  make  good 
the  investments  of  certain  German  banks  and  financiers 
in  Galicia  and  Roumania.  I  doubt  whether  a  more  lib- 
eral Germany  will  wish  to  put  the  control  of  a  great 
business  in  the  hands  of  the  government,  thereby  greatly 
increasing  the  number  of  government  officials  and  the 
weight  of  government  influence  in  the  country.  Heaven 
knows  there  are  officials  enough  to-day  in  Germany,  with- 
out turning  over  a  great  department  of  private  industry 
to  the  government  for  the  sole  purpose  of  making  good 
bad  investments  of  certain  financiers  and  adding  to  the 
political  influence  of  the  central  government. 

In  May,  1914,  Colonel  House  and  his  beautiful  wife 
arrived  to  pay  us  a  visit  in  Berlin.  He  was,  of  course, 
anxious  to  have  a  talk  with  the  Emperor,  and  this  was  ar- 
ranged by  the  Emperor  inviting  the  Colonel  and  me  to 
what  is  called  the  Schrippenfest,  at  the  new  palace  at 
Potsdam. 

For  many  years,  in  fact  since  the  days  of  Frederick  the 
Great,  the  learning  (Lehr)  battalion,  composed  of  picked 
soldiers  from  all  the  regiments  of  Prussia,  has  been  quar- 
tered at  Potsdam,  and  on  a  certain  day  in  April  this  bat- 
talion has  been  given  a  dinner  at  which  they  eat  white 
rolls  (Schrippen)  instead  of  the  usual  black  bread.  This 
feast  has  been  carried  on  from  these  older  days  and  has 
become  quite  a  ceremony. 

The  Colonel  and  I  motored  to  Potsdam,  arrayed  in 
dress-suits,  and  waited  in  one  of  the  salons  of  the  ground 
floor  of  the  new  palace.  Finally  the  Emperor  and  the 
Empress  and  several  of  the  princes  and  their  wives  and 
the  usual  dignitaries  of  the  Emperor's  household  arrived. 
The  Colonel  was  presented  to  the  royalties  and  then  a 
Divine  Service  was  held  in  the  open  air  at  one  end  of  the 
palace.  The  Empress  and  Princesses  occupied  large 
chairs  and  the  Emperor  stood  with  his  sons  behind  him 


DIPLOMATIC  WORK  OF  FIRST  WINTER      S3 

and  then  the  various  dignitaries  of  the  court.  The  Lehr 
Battalion  was  drawn  up  behind.  There  were  a  large 
band  and  the  choir  boys  from  the  Berlin  cathedral.  The 
service  was  very  impressive  and  not  less  so  because  of  a 
great  Zeppelin  which  hovered  over  our  heads  during  the 
whole  of  the  service. 

After  Divine  Service,  the  Lehr  Battalion  marched  in 
review  and  then  was  given  food  and  beer  in  long  arbours 
constructed  in  front  of  the  palace.  While  the  men  were 
eating,  the  Emperor  and  Empress  and  Princes  passed 
among  the  tables,  speaking  to  the  soldiers.  We  then 
went  to  the  new  palace  where  in  the  extraordinary  hall 
studded  with  curious  specimens  of  minerals  from  all 
countries,  a  long  table  forming  three  sides  of  a  square  was 
set  for  about  sixty  people.  Colonel  House  and  I  sat  di- 
rectly across  the  table  from  the  Emperor,  with  General 
F'alkenhayn  between  us.  The  Emperor  was  in  a  very 
good  mood  and  at  one  time,  talking  across  the  table,  said 
to  me  that  the  Colonel  and  I,  in  our  black  dress-suits, 
looked  like  a  couple  of  crows,  that  we  were  like  two  un- 
dertakers at  a  feast  and  spoiled  the  picture.  After 
luncheon  the  Emperor  had  a  long  talk  with  Colonel 
House,  and  then  called  me  into  the  conversation. 

On  May  twenty-sixth,  I  arranged  that  the  Colonel 
should  meet  von  Tirpitz  at  dinner  in  our  house.  We  did 
not  guess  then  what  a  central  figure  in  this  war  the  great 
admiral  was  going  to  be.  At  that  time  and  until  his  fall, 
he  was  Minister  of  Marine,  which  corresponds  to  our 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  what  is  called  in 
German  Reichsmarineamt.  The  Colonel  also  met  von 
Bethmann-Hollweg,  von  Jagow,  Zimmermann  and  many 
others. 

There  are  two  other  heads  of  departments,  connected 
with  the  navy,  of  equal  rank  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Naval  Department  and  not  reporting  to  him.  These  are 
the  heads  of  the  naval  staff  and  the  head  of  what  is 


54         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

known  as  the  Marine  Cabinet.  The  head  of  the  naval 
staff  is  supposed  to  direct  the  actual  operations  of  war- 
fare in  the  navy,  and  the  head  of  the  Marine  Cabinet  is 
charged  with  the  personnel  of  the  navy,  with  determin- 
ing what  officers  are  to  be  promoted  and  what  officers  are 
to  take  over  ships  or  commands. 

While  von  Tirpitz  was  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  by  the 
force  of  his  personality,  he  dominated  the  two  other  de- 
partments, but  since  his  fall  the  heads  of  these  two  other 
departments  have  held  positions  as  important,  if  not  more 
important,  than  that  of  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

On  May  thirty-first,  we  took  Colonel  and  Mrs.  House 
to  the  aviation  field  of  Joachimsthal.  Here  the  Dutch 
aviator  Fokker  was  flying  and  after  being  introduced  to 
us  he  did  some  stunts  for  our  benefit.  Fokker  was  em- 
ployed by  the  German  army  and  later  became  a  natural- 
ised German.  The  machines  designed  by  him,  and 
named  after  him,  for  a  long  time  held  the  mastery  of  the 
air  on  the  West  front. 

I'he  advice  of  Colonel  House,  a  most  wise  and  prudent 
counsellor,  was  at  all  times  of  the  greatest  value  to  me 
during  my  stay  in  Berlin.  We  exchanged  letters  weekly, 
I  sending  him  a  weekly  bulletin  of  the  situation  in  Berlin 
and  much  news  and  goriip  too  personal  or  too  indefinite 
to  be  placed  in  official  reports. 

War  with  Germany  seemed  a  thing  not  even  to  be  con- 
sidered when  in  this  month  of  May,  1914,  I  called  on  the 
Foreign  Office,  by  direction,  to  thank  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment for  the  aid  given  the  Americans  at  Tampico  by 
German  ships  of  war. 

Early  in  February,  Mr.  S.  Bergmann,  a  German  who 
had  made  a  fortune  in  America  and  who  had  returned  to 
Germany  to  take  up  again  his  German  citizenship,  invited 
me  to  go  over  the  great  electrical  works  which  he  had  es- 
tablished. Prince  Henry  of  Prussia,  the  brother  of  the 
Emperor,  was  the  only  other  guest  and  together  we  in- 


DIPLOMATIC  WORK  OF  FIRST  WINTER      55 

spected  the  vast  works,  afterwards  having  lunch  in  Mr. 
Bergmann's  office.  Prince  Henry  has  always  been  in- 
terested in  America  since  his  visit  here.  On  that  visit 
he  spent  most  of  his  time  with  German  soci-ties,  etc.  Of 
course,  now  we  know  he  came  as  a  propagandist  with  the 
object  of  welding  together  the  Germans  in  America  and 
keeping  up  their  interest  in  the  Fatherland.  He  made  a 
similar  trip  to  the  Argentine  just  before  the  Great  War, 
with  a  similar  purpose,  but  I  understand  his  excursion 
was  not  considered  a  great  success,  from  any  standpoint. 
A  man  of  affable  manners,  no  one  is  better  qualified  to 
go  abroad  as  a  German  propagandist  than  he.  If  all 
Germans  had  been  like  him  there  would  have  been  no 
World  War  in  19 14. 

On  March  eighteenth,  we  were  invited  to  a  fancy-dress 
ball  at  the  palace  of  the  Crown  Prince.  The  guests  were 
mostly  young  people  and  officers.  The  Crown  Princess 
wore  a  beautiful  Russian  dress  with  its  characteristic  high 
front  piece  on  the  head.  The  Crown  Prince  and  all  the 
officers  present  were  in  the  picturesque  uniforms  of  their 
respective  regiments  of  a  period  of  one  hundred  years 
ago.  Prince  Oscar,  the  fifth  son  of  the  Kaiser,  looked 
particularly  well. 

The  hours  for  balls  in  Berlin,  where  officers  attended, 
were  a  good  example  for  hostesses  in  this  country.  The 
invitations  read  for  eight  o'clock  and  that  meant  eight 
o'clock.  A  cold  dinner  of  perhaps  four  courses  is  imme- 
diately served  on  the  arrival  of  the  guests,  who,  with  the 
exception  of  a  very  few  distinguished  ones,  are  not  given 
any  particular  places.  At  a  quarter  to  nine  the  dancing 
begins,  supper  is  at  about  eleven  and  the  guests  go  home 
at  twelve,  at  an  hour  which  enables  the  officers  to  get  to 
bed  early. 

During  the  season  there  were  balls  at  the  British  and 
French  Embassy  and  performances  by  the  Russian  Ballet, 
then  in  Berlin,  at  the  Russian  Embassy. 


56         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

The  wonderful  new  Royal  Library,  designed  by  Ihne, 
was  opened  on  March  twenty-second.  The  Emperor  at- 
tended, coming  in  with  the  beautiful  Queen  of  Roumania 
walking  by  his  side.  She  is  an  exceedingly  handsome 
woman,  half  English  and  half  Russian.  Some  days  later 
I  was  presented  to  her  at  a  reception  held  at  the  Rouma- 
nian Minister's  and  found  her  as  pleasant  to  talk  to  as 
good  to  look  upon. 

At  the  end  of  March  there  was  a  Horse  Show.  The 
horses  did  not  get  prizes  for  mere  looks  and  manners  in 
trotting  and  cantering,  as  here.  They  must  all  do  some- 
thing, for  the  horse  is  considered  primarily  as  a  war 
horse;  such,  for  instance,  as  stopping  suddenly  and  turn- 
ing at  a  word  of  command.  The  jumping  was  excellent, 
officers  riding  in  all  the  events.  It  was  not  a  function  of 
"society,"  but  all  "society"  was  there  and  most  keenly  in- 
terested; for  in  a  warlike  country,  just  as  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  the  master's  life  may  depend  upon  the  qualities  of 
his  horse. 

I  have  always  been  fond  of  horses  and  horse-racing, 
and  the  race-tracks  about  Berlin  were  always  an  attrac- 
tion for  me. 

Many  of  the  drivers  and  jockeys  were  Americans. 
Taral  was  a  successful  jockey  for  my  father-in-law,  Mar- 
cus Daly.  He  is  now  the  trainer  of  one  of  the  best  rac- 
ing stables  in  Germany,  that  of  the  brothers  Weinberg, 
who  made  a  fortune  in  dye-stuffs.  "Pop"  Campbell,  who 
trained  Mr.  Daly's  Ogden,  a  Futurity  winner,  is  also  a 
Berlin  trainer.  The  top  notch  jockey  was  Archibald  of 
California.  McCreery,  who  once  trained  for  one  of  my 
brothers,  had  the  stable  which  rivalled  the  Weinbergs', 
that  of  Baron  Oppenheim,  a  rich  banker  of  Cologne. 

The  German  officers  are  splendid  riders  and  take  part 
in  many  races.  The  Crown  Prince  himself  is  a  success- 
ful jockey  and  racing  stable  owner. 

On  June  fifth,  at  the  annual  hunt  race,  the  big  steeple- 


DIPLOMATIC  WORK  OF  FIRST  WINTER      57 

chase  of  the  year,  the  Emperor  himself  appeared  at  the 
Grijnewald  track,  occupying  his  private  box,  a  sort  of  ht- 
tle  house  beyond  the  finish. 

Bookmakers  are  not  allowed  in  Germany.  The  bet- 
ting is  in  mutual  pools.  About  seventeen  per  cent  of  the 
money  paid  is  taken  by  the  Jockey  Club,  the  State  and 
charities,  so  that  the  bettor,  with  this  percentage  running 
always  against  him,  has  little  chance  of  ultimate  success. 

Many  of  the  races  are  confined  to  horses  bred  in  Den- 
mark and  the  Central  Empires. 

All  of  us  in  the  Embassy  joined  the  Red  White  Tennis 
Club  situated  in  the  Griinewald  about  five  miles  from  the 
centre  of  Berlin.  The  Crown  Prince  was  a  member  and 
often  played  there.  He  is  an  excellent  player,  not  quite 
up  to  championship  form,  but  he  can  give  a  good  account 
of  himself  in  any  company  short  of  the  top  class.  He 
has  the  advantage  of  always  finding  that  the  best  players 
are  only  too  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  play  with  him. 
At  this  Tennis  Club  during  all  the  period  of  the  feeling 
of  hatred  against  America  we  were  treated  with  extreme 
courtesy  by  all  our  German  fellow  members. 

We  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  two  exchange  professors 
in  the  winter  of  19 13-14,  Professor  Paul  Shorey  of  the 
University  of  Chicago  and  Professor  Archibald  Coolidge 
of  Harvard.  These  exchange  professors  give  courses 
and  lectures  in  the  universities  and  their  first  appearance 
is  quite  an  event.  On  this  first  day  in  1913,  they  each 
delivered  a  lecture  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  on 
this  lecture  day  Prince  August  Wilhelm,  representing  the 
Kaiser,  attended.  The  Kaiser  used  invariably  to  attend, 
but  of  late  years  I  am  afraid  has  rather  lost  interest  in 
this  enterprise  at  first  so  much  favoured  by  him. 

The  Cologne  Gazette  at  one  time  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  in  an  article,  expressed  great  surprise 
that  America  should  permit  the  export  of  munitions  of 
war  to  the  Allies  and  said,  quite  seriously,  that  Germany 


58         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

had  done  everything  possible  to  win  the  favour  of  Amer- 
ica, that  Roosevelt  had  been  offered  a  review  of  German 
troops,  that  the  Emperor  had  invited  Americans  who 
came  to  Kiel  on  their  yachts  to  dine  with  him,  and  that 
he  had  even  sat  through  the  lectures  given  by  American 
exchange  professors. 

Before  the  war  there  was  but  one  cable  direct  from 
Germany  to  America.  This  cable  was  owned  by  a  Ger- 
man company  and  reached  America  via  the  Azore  Is- 
lands, I  endeavoured  to  obtain  permission  for  the 
Western  Union  Company  to  land  a  cable  in  Germany, 
but  the  opposition  of  the  German  company,  which  did  not 
desire  to  have  its  monopoly  interfered  with,  caused  the 
applications  of  the  Western  Union  to  be  definitely  pigeon- 
holed. In  August,  19 14,  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
when  I  told  this  to  Ballin  of  the  Hamburg  American 
Line  and  von  Gwinner,  head  of  the  Deutsche  Bank,  and 
when  they  thought  of  how  much  they  could  have  saved 
for  themselves  and  Germany  and  their  companies  if 
there  had  been  an  American  owned  cable  landing  in  Ger- 
many, their  anger  at  the  delay  on  the  part  of  official  Ger- 
many knew  no  bounds.  Within  a  very  short  time  I  re- 
ceived an  answer  from  the  Foreign  Office  granting  the 
application  of  the  Western  Union  Company,  providing 
the  cable  went  direct  to  America.  This  concession,  how- 
ever, came  too  late  and,  naturally,  the  Western  Union 
did  not  take  up  the  matter  during  the  war. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MILITARISM  IN  GERMANY  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR 

IN  19 13-19 14  occurred  a  series  of  events  known  as 
the  "Zabern  Affair,"  which  to  my  mind  decided  the 
"system" — the  mihtary  autocracy — for  a  speedy  war. 
In  this  affair  the  German  people  appeared  at  last  to  be 
opening  their  eyes,  to  recover  in  some  degree  from  the 
panic  fear  of  their  neighbours  which  had  made  them  sub- 
mit to  the  arrogance  and  exactions  of  the  military  caste 
and  to  be  almost  ready  to  demilitarise  themselves,  a 
thing  abhorrent  to  the  upholders  of  caste,  the  system,  the 
army  and  the  HohenzoUerns. 

This  writing  on  the  wall — these  letters  forming  the 
word  "Zabern" — the  actions  of  the  Social  Democrats  and 
their  growing  boldness,  all  were  warnings  to  the  autoc- 
racy of  its  waning  power,  and  impelled  that  autocracy 
towards  war  as  a  bloodletting  cure  for  popular  discon- 
tent. 

Prussia,  which  has  imposed  its  will,  as  well  as  its  meth- 
ods of  thought  and  life  on  all  the  rest  of  Germany,  is 
undoubtedly  a  mihtary  nation. 

More  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years  ago 
Mirabeau,  the  great  French  orator  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolution,  said,  "War  is  the  national  industry 
of  Prussia."  Later,  Napoleon  remarked  that  Prussia 
"was  hatched  from  a  cannon  ball,"  and  shortly  before  the 
Franco-Prussian  war  of  1870  the  French  military  at- 
tache, in  reporting  to  his  government,  wrote  that  "other 
countries  possessed  an  army,  but  in  Prussia  the  army  pos- 
sessed the  country." 

59 


6o  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

In  practice  the  class  of  nobles  in  Prussia  owns  the 
army.  Officers  may  enter  the  army  in  two  ways,  either 
by  enlisting  in  the  regiment,  first  as  private  and  then  be- 
ing rapidly  promoted  to  the  position  of  non-commis- 
sioned officer,  and  then  probationary  ensign,  or  avan- 
tageur;  or  the  young  aspirant  may  come  directly  from  a 
two  years'  course  in  one  of  the  cadet  schools  and  enter  the 
regiment  as  probationary  ensign.  In  both  cases  the 
young  officer  is  observed  by  the  officers  during  a  period 
of  probation  and  can  become  an  officer  of  that  regiment 
only  by  the  consent  of  the  regimental  officers.  In  other 
words,  each  regiment  is  like  a  club,  the  officers  having  the 
right  of  black-ball. 

This  system  has  practically  confined  the  professional 
officers  to  a  class  of  nobles.  It  is  not  at  all  unusual  to 
find  in  a  regiment  officers  whose  ancestors  were  officers 
of  the  same  regiment  two  hundred  years  or  more  ago. 

In  addition  to  these  officers  who  make  the  army  their 
career,  a  certain  number  of  Germans,  after  undergoing 
an  enlistment  in  the  army  of  one  year  and  two  periods  of 
training  thereafter,  are  made  reserve  officers.  These  re- 
serve officers  are  called  to  the  colours  for  manoeuvres 
and  also,  of  course,  when  the  whole  nation  is  arrayed  in 
war.  These  reserve  officers  seldom  attain  a  rank  higher 
than  that  of  captain.  They  may,  however,  while  exer- 
cising civil  functions,  be  promoted,  and  in  this  manner  the 
Chancellor,  while  occupying  civil  positions,  has  gradu- 
ally been  promoted  to  the  rank  of  General  and  von 
Jagow,  during  the  war,  to  the  rank  of  Major.  As  a  rule 
reserve  officers  are  the  one-yearers,  or  Einjdhriger,  who, 
because  they  have  attained  a  certain  standard  of  educa- 
tion, serve  only  one  year  with  the  army  instead  of  the  two 
require-  from  others.  The  Bavarian  army  is  in  a  sense 
independent  of  Prussia,  but  is  modelled  on  the  same  sys- 
tem. 

For  years  officers  of  the  army,  both  in  the  discharge 


-^■>IH 

(f.    JK^i^fm^f'at^     ..UZ^o:(/l»t4u»i'. 

.A;.:^/...  JxUtJ,,  fA</^^o,, i§..^'/iY'//"^ '^^"^ 

./K    r-T-./r*^    ^ttAxt<^ t^««<«««^ 

C.    K<nre^%aj,  Jy<%^tyU'  _  ^/uy^ 


n.«^ii*f-.'«  B«inW 


PROGRAMME   OF   THE   MUSIC  AFTKR   PIXXEP    WITH    TIIF.   KAI?FR 
AT  THE   ROYAL  PAI-ACE,  BERLIN 


THE  GLORY    WHICH    IS   POTSDAM.       SUMMER   RESIDENCE    UF   THE    KAISER 
IN   THE  PARK  OF   SANS   SOUCI 


DEMONSTRATION    Ul     ^\  ..i  a'.,  .  li  \    lOK   THE   AMERICANS,    AT   THE 
TOWN   HALL,  AUGUST,   I914    (PAGE   IIO) 


MILITARISM  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR    6i 

of  their  duties  and  outside,  have  behaved  in  a  very  arro- 
gant way  toward  the  civil  population.  Time  and  again, 
while  I  was  in  Germany  waiting  in  line  at  some  ticket 
ofiice,  an  officer  has  shoved  himself  ahead  of  all  others 
without  even  a  protest  from  those  waiting.  On  one  oc- 
casion, I  went  to  the  races  in  Berlin  with  my  brother-in- 
law  and  bought  a  box.  While  we  were  out  looking  at  the 
horses  between  the  races,  a  Prussian  officer  and  his  wife 
seated  themselves  in  our  box.  I  called  the  attention  of 
one  of  the  ushers  to  this,  but  the  usher  said  that  he  did 
not  dare  ask  a  Prussian  officer  to  leave,  and  it  was  only 
after  sending  for  the  head  usher  and  showing  him  my 
Jockey  Club  badge  and  my  pass  as  Ambassador,  that  I 
was  able  to  secure  possession  of  my  own  box. 

There  have  been  many  instances  in  Germany  where 
officers  having  a  slight  dispute  with  civilians  have  in- 
stantly cut  the  civilian  down.  Instances  of  this  kind  and 
the  harsh  treatment  of  the  Germans  by  officers  and  un- 
der-officers,  while  serving  in  the  army,  undoubtedly  cre- 
ated in  Germany  a  spirit  of  antagonism  not  only  to  the 
army  itself  but  to  the  whole  military  system  of  Prussia. 
Affairs  were  brought  to  a  head  by  the  so-called  Zabern 
Affair.  In  this  affair  the  internal  antagonism  between 
the  civil  population  and  professional  soldiers,  which  had 
assumed  great  proportions  in  a  period  of  long  peace, 
seemed  to  reach  its  climax.  Of  course  this  antagonism 
had  increased  with  the  increase  in  19 13-14  of  the  effec- 
tive strength  of  the  standing  army,  bringing  a  material 
increase  in  the  numbers  of  officers  and  non-commissioned 
officers  who  represent  military  professionalism. 

The  Imperial  Provinces  or  Reichsland,  as  Alsace  and 
Lorraine  are  called,  had  been  in  a  peculiar  position 
within  the  body  politic  of  Germany  since  their  annexation 
in  1870.  The  Reichsland,  as  indicated  by  its  name,  was 
to  be  considered  as  common  property  of  the  German 
Empire  and  was  not  annexed  to  any  one  German  State. 


62  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Its  government  is  by  an  Imperial  Viceroy,  with  a  kind 
of  cabinet  consisting  of  one  Secretary  of  State,  Civil  and 
Under  Secretaries  and  Department  heads,  assisted  by  a 
legislative  body  of  two  chambers,  one  elected  by  popular 
vote  and  the  other  consisting  of  members  partly  elected 
by  municipal  bodies,  universities,  churches  and  so  forth, 
and  partly  appointed  by  the  Imperial  Government.  The 
Viceroy  and  his  cabinet  are  appointed  by  the  Emperor  in 
his  capacity  of  the  sovereign  of  the  Reichsland.  Until 
the  thirty-first  of  May,  191 1,  the  Reichsland  had  no  con- 
stitution of  its  own,  the  form  of  its  government  being 
regulated  by  the  Reichstag  and  Federal  Council  (Bundes- 
rat)  in  about  the  same  way  as  the  territories  of  the 
United  States  are  ruled  by  Congress  and  the  President. 
In  191 1,  Alsace-Lorraine  received  a  constitution  which 
gave  it  representation  in  the  Federal  Council,  representa- 
tion in  the  Reichstag  having  already  been  granted  as  early 
as  1 87 1.  The  sympathy  of  Alsace-Lorraine  for  France 
had  been  increased  by  the  policy  of  several  of  the  Ger- 
man viceroys, — von  Manteuffel,  Prince  Hohenlohe, 
Princt  Miinster  and  Count  Wedel,  who  had,  in  their  ad- 
ministrations, alternated  severe  measures  with  great 
leniency  and  had  not  improved  conditions,  so  that  the 
population,  essentially  South  German,  was  undoubtedly 
irritated  by  the  tone  and  manner  of  the  North  German 
officials. 

Great  industries  had  been  developed  by  the  Imperial 
Government,  especially  textile  and  coal  mining,  and  the 
industrial  population  centering  in  Miilhausen  was  hotly 
and  thoroughly  Social  Democratic.  The  upper  or  well- 
to-do  classes  were  tied  to  France  by  family  connections 
and  by  religion.  The  bourgeois  remained  mildly  anti- 
German,  more  properly  speaking,  anti-government,  for 
similar  reasons,  and  the  working  men  were  opposed  to 
the  government  on  social  and  economic  grounds.  The 
farming  population,  not  troubling  much  about  the  poli- 


MILITARISM  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR    63 

tics,  but  being  affected  by  the  campaign  of  the  nationalis- 
tic press,  were  in  sympathy  with  France;  so  the  atmos- 
phere was  well  prepared  for  the  coming  storm. 

Zabern,  or  in  French,  Saverne,  is  a  little  town  of  be- 
tween eight  and  nine  thousand  inhabitants,  beautifully 
situated  at  the  foot  of  the  Vosges  Mountains  on  the 
banks  of  the  Rhine-Marne  Canal.  Its  garrison  com- 
prised the  staff  and  two  battalions  of  Infantry  Regiment, 
Number  Ninety-nine,  commanded  by  von  Reuter,  and 
among  its  officers  was  a  Lieutenant  von  Forstner,  a  young 
man  only  twenty  years  old,  whose  boyish  appearance  had 
excited  the  school  children  and  boys  working  in  nearby 
iron  factories  to  ridicule  him.  It  became  known  that 
this  young  officer,  while  instructing  his  men,  had  insulted 
the  French  flag  and  had  called  the  Alsatian  recruits 
JTackes,  a  nick-name  meaning  "square-head,"  and  fre- 
quently used  by  the  people  of  Alsace-Lorraine  in  a  jocu- 
lar way,  but  hotly  resented  by  them  if  used  towards  them 
by  others.  It  was  further  reported  that  he  had  prom- 
ised his  men  a  reward  of  ten  marks  if  one  of  them,  in 
case  of  trouble,  should  bring  down  a  Social  Democrat. 
Forstner  had  told  his  men  to  beware,  and  warned  them 
against  listening  to  French  foreign  agents,  whom  the  Ger- 
mans claimed  were  inducing  French  soldiers  to  desert  in 
order  to  join  the  French  legion.  It  is  probable  that 
Forstner,  in  talking  to  his  men  of  the  French  Foreign 
Legion,  used  language  offensive  to  French  ears.  He  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  used  the  word  Wackes  in  defiance  of 
an  order  of  the  commanding  general,  and  for  this  he  had 
been  punished  with  several  days'  confinement  in  a  mili- 
tary prison.  Lieutenant  von  Forstner,  who  was  ordered 
to  instruct  his  squad  about  the  regulations  in  case  of 
trouble  with  the  civil  population,  claimed  that  he  had 
only  added  to  the  usual  instructions  a  statement  that 
every  true  soldier  should  do  his  best  to  suppress  any  dis- 
turbances and  that  he,  Forstner,  would  give  a  special  re- 


64         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ward  to  any  of  his  men  who  would  arrest  one  of  "those 
damned  Social  Democrats." 

Reports  of  the  acts  of  Forstner  and  other  officers  were 
rapidly  sprea<l  among  the  population.  The  two  news-' 
papers  of  Zabern  published  articles.  The  excitement 
grew,  and  there  were  demonstrations  against  the  officials 
and  especially  against  Forstner.  Finally,  conditions  be- 
came so  bad  that  Colonel  von  Reuter  requested  the  head 
of  the  local  civil  administration.  Director  Mahler,  to  re- 
store order,  stating  that  he  would  take  the  matter  Into 
his  own  hands  if  order  was  not  restored.  The  director, 
a  native  of  a  small  village  near  Zabern,  replied  coolly 
that  he  saw  no  necessity  for  Interfering  with  peace  lov- 
ing and  law  abiding  people.  On  November  twenty- 
ninth,  19 13,  a  large  crowd  assembled  In  front  of  the  bar- 
racks. Colonel  von  Reuter  ordered  Lieutenant  Schad, 
commanding  the  Guard  as  officer  of  the  day,  to  disperse 
the  crowd.  Accordingly  Lieutenant  Schad  called  the 
Guard  to  arms  and  three  times  summoned  the  crowd  to 
disperse  and  go  home.  The  soldiers  charged  and  drove 
the  multitude  across  the  Square  and  Into  a  side  street 
and  arrested  about  fifteen  persons,  among  them  the 
President,  two  Judges  and  the  State  Attorney  of  the  Za- 
bern Supreme  Court,  who  had  just  come  out  from  the 
court  building  and  who  were  caught  In  the  crowd.  They 
were  subsequently  released.  The  rest  of  the  persons  ar- 
rested were  kept  in  the  cellar  of  the  barracks  over  night. 

The  report  of  these  occurrences  caused  immense  ex- 
citement throughout  Germany.  A  great  outcry  went  up 
against  mihtarism,  even  in  quarters  where  no  socialistic 
tendencies  existed.  This  feeling  was  not  helped  by  the 
fact  that  the  General  commanding  the  fifteenth  army  to 
which  the  Zabern  regiment  belonged  was  an  exponent  of 
extreme  militaristic  ideas;  a  man,  who  several  years  be- 
fore, as  Colonel  of  the  Colonial  troops,  representing  the 
war  ministry  before  the  Reichstag  and  debating  there  the 


MILITARISM  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR    65 

question  of  the  number  of  troops  to  be  kept  in  German 
South  West  Africa,  had  most  clearly  shown  his  contempt 
for  the  Reichstag. 

Colonel  von  Reuter  and  Lieutenant  Schad,  when  court- 
martialled  for  their  acts  in  ordering  the  troops  to  move 
against  the  civil  population,  claimed  the  benefit  of  a  Prus- 
sian law  of  1820,  which  provided  that  in  any  city,  town 
or  village,  the  highest  military  ofiicer  in  command  must 
assume  the  authority,  usually  vested  in  the  civil  govern- 
ment, whenever  for  any  reason  the  civil  administration 
neglects  to  keep  order.  The  Colonel  and  Lieutenant 
were  subsequently  acquitted  on  the  ground  that  they  had 
acted  under  the  provisions  of  this  law. 

The  excitement  throughout  Germany  was  further  in- 
creased by  other  circumstances.  The  Emperor  remained 
during  these  critical  days  at  Donaueschingen,  the  princely 
estate  of  his  friend  and  favourite.  Prince  Furstenberg, 
enjoying  himself  with  fox-hunting,  torch-light  processions 
and  cabaret  performances.  Of  course,  all  this  had  been 
arranged  long  before  any  one  dreamed  of  any  trouble  in 
Zabern,  and  the  Emperor  could  scarcely  be  expected  to 
realise  the  gravity  of  the  situation  which  suddenly  arose. 
But  this  very  fact  created  a  bad  impression.  It  was  even 
rumoured  that  the  Empress,  alarmed  by  the  situation, 
had  ordered  a  train  to  be  made  ready  in  order  to  go  to 
him  and  try  to  convince  him  of  the  necessity  of  return- 
ing to  Berlin. 

The  newly  appointed  minister  of  war,  Falkenhayn, 
went  to  Donaueschingen,  where  he  was  joined  by  von 
Deimling.  This  action  aggravated  the  situation,  because 
the  public  concluded  that  the  Emperor  would  hear  the  ad- 
vice and  report  of  military  officers  only.  The  sudden 
death,  by  heart  failure,  of  the  Emperor's  closest  friend, 
von  Hulsen,  chief  of  the  Emperor's  Military  Cabinet, 
during  a  banquet  at  Donaueschingen,  gave  the  rapidly  de- 
veloping events  a  tragic  and  mysterious  colouring,  and 


66  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

these  conferences  in  Donaueschlngen  resulted  in  the  ten- 
dering of  their  resignations  by  the  Viceroy,  von  Wedel, 
and  Secretary  of  State  Zorn  von  Bulach,  Viceroy  and 
Secretary  of  State  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  who  felt  that  the 
military  party  had  gained  an  upper  hand  in  the  conflict 
with  the  civil  authorities.  The  Chancellor  then  hurried 
to  Donaueschingen,  arriving  a  few  hours  before  the  de- 
parture of  the  Emperor;  and  a  subsequent  order  of  the 
Emperor  to  General  von  Deimling  to  see  to  it  that  the 
military  officers  did  not  overstep  their  authority  and  di- 
recting him  to  investigate  the  occurrences  and  take  meas- 
ures to  punish  all  guilty  parties,  somewhat  quieted  the  na- 
tion and  caused  the  two  highest  civil  officials  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine  to  withdraw  their  resignations. 

Zabern,  where  a  brigadier-general  had  been  sent  by 
von  Deimling  to  restore  civil  government,  had  begun  to 
quiet  down.  But  the  Chancellor  had  hardly  returned  to 
Berlin  when  another  incident  stirred  Germany.  W^hile 
practising  field  service  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Zabern 
and  marching  through  a  village,  Lieutenant  von  Forstner 
had  an  altercation  with  a  lame  shoemaker  and  cut  him 
down.  This  brutal  act  of  militarism  caused  a  new  out- 
burst throughout  Germany.  Forstner  was  tried  by  a 
court-martial  for  hitting  and  wounding  an  unarmed  civil- 
ian, and  sentenced  by  the  lower  court  to  one  year's  im- 
prisonment, but  acquitted  by  the  higher  court  as  having 
acted  in  "supposed  self-defence." 

No  less  than  three  parties,  the  Centrum,  the  Progres- 
sives and  the  Social  Democrats,  addressed  interpellations 
to  the  Chancellor  about  this  occurrence  at  Zabern.  I  was 
present  at  the  debate  in  the  Reichstag,  which  took  place 
on  the  fourth,  fifth  and  sixth  of  December,  19 13.  Three 
South  Germans,  a  member  of  the  Centrum,  Hauss,  a 
Progressive  named  Roser,  and  the  Socialist  deputy  from 
Miilhausen  in  Alsace,  Peirotes,  commenced  by  moving 
and  seconding  the  interpellation  and  related  in  vehement 


MILITARISM  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR    67 

language  rhe  occurrences  at  Zabern.  The  Chancellor  re- 
plied In  defence  of  the  government.  Unfortunately  he 
had  that  morning  received  family  news  of  a  most  un- 
pleasant character,  which  added  to  his  nervousness.  He 
spoke  with  a  low  voice  and  looked  like  a  downhearted 
and  sick  man.  It  was  whispered  afterwards  in  the  lob- 
bies that  he  had  forgotten  the  most  important  part  of  his 
speech.  The  unfavourable  Impression  which  he  made 
was  increased  by  von  Falkenhayn,  appearing  for  the  first 
time  before  the  Reichstag.  If  the  Reichstag  members 
had  been  disappointed  by  the  Chancellor,  they  were 
stirred  to  the  highest  pitch  of  bitterness  by  the  speech  of 
the  War  Minister.  In  a  sharp,  commanding  voice  he 
told  them  that  the  military  officers  had  only  done  their 
duty,  that  they  would  not  be  swerved  from  their  path  by 
press  agents  or  hysterical  individuals,  that  Forstner  was 
a  very  young  officer  who  had  been  severely  punished,  but 
that  this  kind  of  courageous  young  officer  was  the  kind 
that  the  country  needed,  etc.  Immediately  after  this 
speech  the  Progressive  party  moved  that  the  attitude  of 
the  Chancellor  did  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  people,  and  it  became  evident  that,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  histor>^  of  the  German  Empire,  a 
vote  of  censure  directed  against  the  government  would 
be  debated.  The  debate  was  continued  all  the  next  day, 
the  Chancellor  making  another  speech  and  saying  what 
he  probably  had  Intended  to  say  the  day  before.  He  re- 
lated what  he  had  achieved  at  Donaueschingen ;  that  the 
Emperor  had  issued  a  cabinet  order  saying  that  the  mili- 
tary authorities  should  be  kept  within  legal  bounds,  that 
all  the  guilty  persons  would  be  punished,  that  the  Regi- 
ment, Number  Ninety-nine,  had  been  removed  from  Za- 
bern, that  the  absolute  law  of  1820  had  been  abolished 
for  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  that  no  Chancellor  should  for 
one  moment  tolerate  disregard  of  law  by  any  govern- 
ment officials,  ch'Il  or  nillitarv,  and  remain  In  his  position. 


68         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

This  second  speech  of  the  Chancellor  made  a  better  im- 
pression and  somewhat  affected  the  more  extreme  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag,  but  it  came  too  late  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  the  vote  of  censure  by  the  remarkable  major- 
ity of  two  hundred  and  ninety-three  to  fifty-four.  Only 
the  Conservatives  voted  against  it.  A  few  days  later, 
when  the  Social  Democrats  demanded  that  the  Chan- 
cellor take  the  consequence  of  the  vote  of  distrust  and 
resign,  the  attitude  of  the  members  of  all  the  other  par- 
ties, who  had  been  favourably  impressed  by  the  second 
speech  of  the  Chancellor,  showed  that  they  were  not  yet 
prepared  to  go  the  length  of  holding  that  a  vote  of  dis- 
trust in  the  Reichstag  must  necessarily  mean  the  resigna- 
tion of  the  Chancellor. 

Public  excitement  gradually  calmed  down,  and  a  com- 
plete change  of  the  officials  at  Zabern  helped  to  bring 
about  a  normal  condition  of  affairs.  The  Viceroy, 
Count  Wedel,  and  Secretary  of  State  Zorn  von  Bulach, 
resigned  and  were  replaced  by  von  Dallwitz  and  Count 
Rodern. 

However,  the  everlasting  question  came  up  again  a 
little  later  during  the  regular  budget  debate  of  the 
Reichstag.  The  Chancellor  made  his  speech,  giving  a 
review  of  the  political  international  situation.  He  was 
followed  by  Herr  Scheidemann,  leader  of  the  Social 
Democrats,  who  mercilessly  attacked  the  Chancellor  and 
stated  that  if  the  Chancellor  still  thought  that  he  was  the 
right  man  at  the  helm,  he,  Scheidemann,  would  show  that 
the  contrary  was  the  case.  He  then  enumerated  what  he 
called  the  many  political  failures  of  the  Chancellor,  the 
failure  of  the  bill  to  amend  the  Prussian  franchise  law, 
and  stated  that  the  few  bills  which  had  been  passed,  such 
as  the  bill  giving  Alsace-Lorraine  a  real  constitution,  had 
been  carried  only  with  the  help  of  the  Social  Democratic 
party.  The  speaker  then  once  more  rehashed  the  inci- 
dents of  the  Zabern  matter,  referred  to  the  attitude  of  the 


MILITARISiM  AND  THE  ZABERN  AFFAIR    69 

Emperor,  who,  he  said,  had  evidently  been  too  busy  with 
hunting  and  festivities  to  devote  time  to  such  trivial  mat- 
ters as  the  Zabern  Affair,  and  also  said  that,  if  the  Chan- 
cellor had  refused  to  withdraw,  the  only  possible  con- 
clusion from  the  vote  of  the  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  Reichstag  members,  who  were  certainly  not  influ- 
enced by  personal  feelings  against  the  Chancellor,  was 
that  the  Chancellor  must  be  sticking  to  his  post  only  be- 
cause of  the  mistaken  idea  of  the  Emperor's  authority 
and  because  he  must  believe  in  the  fetish  of  personal  gov- 
ernment. Scheidemann  begged  that  the  same  majority 
which  had  passed  the  vote  of  censure  should  now  follow  it 
up  by  voting  down  the  Chancellor's  salary  and  thus  force 
him  out  of  office. 

The  Chancellor  immediately  replied,  saying  that  he 
needed  no  advice  from  Herr  Scheidemann,  and  that  when 
the  government  had  consented  to  change  the  rules  of  the 
Reichstag  he  had  expressly  reserved  the  authority  either 
to  regard  or  disregard  any  resolution  passed  after  an 
interpellation,  and  that  formerly,  after  discussing  an  in- 
terpellation and  the  answer  of  the  government,  no  vote 
could  be  taken  to  approve  or  reject  a  resolution  express- 
ing its  opinion  of  such  course  of  action.  Such  resolu- 
tions might  be  considered  as  valuable  material,  but  it  had 
been  agreed  that  they  could  have  no  binding  effect  either 
upon  the  government  or  any  member  of  it,  and  that  no- 
body had  ever  dreamed  that  by  a  mere  change  of  business 
rules  the  whole  constitution  of  the  Empire  was  being 
changed  and  authority  given  to  the  Reichstag  to  dismiss 
ministers  at  will;  that  in  France  and  Great  Britain  con- 
ditions were  different,  but  that  parliamentary  government 
did  not  exist  in  Germany;  that  it  was  the  constitutional 
privilege  of  the  Emperor  to  appoint  the  Chancellor  with- 
out any  assistance  or  advice  from  the  Reichstag;  tliat  he, 
the  Chancellor,  would  resist  with  all  his  might  every  at- 
tempt to  change  this  system;  and  that  he,  therefore,  re- 


70         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

fused  to  resign  because  the  resolution  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  make  it  evident  that  a  difference  of  opinion  ex- 
isted between  the  Reichstag  and  the  government. 

This  debate  took  place  on  December  ninth,  19 13,  and, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Social  Democrats  and  the  Polish 
deputies,  the  leaders  of  all  parties  supported  the 
view  of  the  Chancellor.  The  motion  to  strike  out  the 
Chancellor's  salary  was  voted  down,  only  the  Social 
Democrats  and  Poles  voting  in  favour  of  it. 

It  is  unquestioned,  however,  that  this  Zabern  Affair 
and  the  consequent  attitude  of  the  whole  nation,  as  well 
as  the  extraordinary  vote  in  the  Reichstag,  greatly 
alarmed  the  military  party. 

It  was  perhaps  the  final  factor  which  decided  the 
advocates  of  the  old  military  system  of  Germany  in  fa- 
vour of  a  European  war.  Usually  in  past  years  when 
the  Reichstag  in  adjournments  had  risen  and  cheered 
the  name  of  the  Emperor,  the  Social  Democrats  ab- 
sented themselves  from  the  Chamber,  but  when  the 
Reichstag  adjourned  on  May  twentieth,  1914,  these  mem- 
bers remained  in  the  Chamber  and  refused  either  to  rise 
or  to  cheer  the  Emperor.  The  President  of  the  Reichs- 
tag immediately  called  attention  to  this  breach  of  respect 
to  the  Emperor,  upon  which  the  Socialists  shouted,  "That 
is  our  affair,"  and  tried  to  drown  the  cheers  with  hoots 
and  hisses  at  which  the  other  parties  applauded  tumul- 
tuously. 

This  occurrence  I  know  greatly  incensed  the  Emperor 
and  did  much,  I  believe,  to  win  his  consent  to  the  war. 


CHAPTER  V 

PSYCHOLOGY  AND  CAUSES  WHICH  PREPARED  THE  NATION 

FOR  WAR 

TO  the  outsider,  the  Germans  seem  a  fierce  and  mar- 
tial nation.  But,  in  reality,  the  mass  of  the  Ger- 
mans, in  consenting  to  the  great  sacrifice  entailed  by  their 
enormous  preparations  for  war,  have  been  actuated  by 
fear. 

This  fear  dates  from  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  the  war 
which  commenced  in  1618  and  was  terminated  in  1648. 
In  1648,  when  the  Treaty  of  Westphalia  was  concluded, 
Germany  was  almost  a  desert.  Its  population  had  fallen 
from  twenty  millions  to  four  millions.  The  few  remain- 
ing people  were  so  starved  that  cannibalism  was  openly 
practised.  In  the  German  States  polygamy  v/as  legalised, 
and  was  a  recognised  institution  for  many  years  there- 
after. 

Of  thirty-five  thousand  Bohemian  villages,  only  six 
thousand  were  left  standing.  In  the  lower  Palatinate 
only  one-tenth  of  the  population  survived;  in  Wiirttem- 
berg,  only  one-sixth.  Hundreds  of  square  miles  of  once 
fertile  country  were  overgrown  with  forests  inhabited 
only  by  wolves. 

A  picture  of  this  horrible  period  is  found  in  the  curious 
novel,  "The  Adventurous  Simplicissimus,"  written  by 
(irimmelshausen,  and  published  in  1669,  which  describes 
the  adventures  of  a  wise  peasant  who  finally  leaves  his 
native  Germany  and  betakes  himself  to  a  desert  island 
which  he  refuses  to  leave  when  offered  an  opportunity 
to  go  back  to  the  Fatherland.     He  answers  those  who 

71 


72         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

wish  to  persuade  him  to  go  back  with  words  which  seem 
quite  appropriate  to-day:  "My  God,  where  do  you  want 
to  carry  me?  Here  is  peace.  There  is  war.  Here  1 
know  nothing  of  the  arts  of  the  court,  ambitions,  anger, 
envy,  deceit,  nor  have  1  cares  concerning  my  clothing  and 
nourishment.  .  .  .  While  I  still  lived  in  Europe  every- 
thing was  (O,  woe  that  I  must  appear  witness  to  such 
acts  of  Christians!)  filled  with  war,  burning,  murder, 
robbery,  plundering  and  the  shame  of  women  and  vir- 
gins." The  Munich  weekly,  "Simplicissimus,"  whose 
powerful  political  cartoons  have  often  startled  Europe, 
takes  its  name  from  this  character. 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War,  Ger- 
many was  again  and  again  ravaged  by  smaller  wars,  cul- 
minating in  the  Seven  Years'  War  of  Frederick  the  Great 
and  the  humbling  of  Germany  under  the  heel  of  Na- 
poleon. In  the  wars  of  Frederick  the  Great,  one  tenth 
of  the  population  was  killed.  Even  the  great  Battle  of 
the  Nations  at  Leipsic  in  1813  did  not  free  Germany 
from  wars,  and  in  1866  Prussia  and  the  smaller  North 
German  States,  with  Italy,  defeated  Austria,  assisted  by 
Bavaria,  Hesse-Cassel,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Nassau,  Sax- 
ony, Baden,  Wiirttemberg  and  Hanover. 

I  am  convinced  that  the  fear  of  war  induced  by  a  hered- 
itary instinct,  caused  the  mass  of  the  Germans  to  become 
the  tools  and  dupes  of  those  who  played  upon  this  very 
fear  in  order  to  create  a  military  autocracy.  On  the 
other  hand,  and,  especially,  in  the  noble  class,  we  have  in 
Germany  a  great  number  of  people  who  believe  in  war 
for  its  own  sake.  In  part,  these  nobles  are  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Teutonic  Knights  who  conquered  the  Slav 
population  of  Prussia,  and  have  ever  since  bound  that 
population  to  their  will. 

The  Prussian  army  was  created  by  the  father  of  Fred- 
erick the  Great,  who  went  to  the  most  ridiculous  ex- 
tremes in  obtaining  tall  men  at  all  costs  for  his  force. 


CAUSES  WHICH  PREPARED  NATION     73 

The  father  of  Frederick  the  Great  gave  the  following 
written  instructions  to  the  two  tutors  of  his  son.  "Above 
all  let  both  tutors  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  in- 
spire him  with  a  love  of  soldiery  and  carefully  impress 
upon  his  mind  that,  as  nothing  can  confer  honour  and 
fame  upon  a  prince  except  the  sword,  the  monarch  who 
seeks  not  his  sole  satisfaction  in  it  must  ever  appear  a 
contemptible  character  in  the  eyes  of  the  world." 

Frederick  the  Great  left,  by  the  death  of  that  father 
who  had  once  threatened  to  execute  him,  at  the  head  of 
a  marvellous  army  with  a  full  treasury,  finally  decided 
upon  war,  as  he  admits  in  his  own  letters,  "in  order  to 
be  talked  about,"  and  his  desire  to  be  talked  about  led 
to  the  Seven  Years'  War. 

The  short  war  against  Denmark  in  1864,  against  Aus- 
tria, Bavaria,  etc.,  in  1866  and  against  France  in  1870, 
enormously  increased  both  the  pride  and  prestige  of  the 
Prussian  army.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  at  all 
periods  of  history  it  seems  as  if  some  blind  instinct  had 
driven  the  inhabitants  of  the  inhospitable  plains  of  North 
Germany  to  war  and  to  conquest.  The  Cimbri  and  Teu- 
tonesi — the  tribes  defeated  by  Marius;  Ariovistus,  who 
was  defeated  by  Julius  Caesar;  the  Goths  and  the  Visi- 
Goths;  the  Franks  and  the  Saxons;  all  have  poured  forth 
from  this  infertile  country,  for  the  conquest  of  other 
lands.  The  Germans  of  to-day  express  this  longing  of 
the  North  Germans  for  pleasanter  climes  in  the  phrase 
in  which  they  demand  "a  place  in  the  sun." 

The  nobles  of  Prussia  are  always  for  war.  The  busi- 
ness men  and  manufacturers  and  ship-owners  desire  an 
increasing  field  for  their  activities.  The  German  colonies 
were  uninhabitable  by  Europeans.  All  his  life  the  glit- 
tering Emperor  and  his  generals  had  planned  and  thought 
of  war;  and  the  Crown  Prince,  surrounded  by  his  re- 
markable collection  of  relics  and  reminders  of  Napoleon, 
dreamed  only  of  taking  the  lead  in  a  successful  war  of 


74         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

conquest.  Early  in  the  winter  of  19 13-14,  the  Crown 
Prince  showed  his  collection  of  Napoleana  to  a  beautiful 
American  woman  of  my  acquaintance,  and  said  that  he 
hoped  war  would  occur  while  his  father  was  aUve,  but, 
if  not,  he  would  start  a  war  the  moment  he  came  to  the 
throne. 

Since  writing  the  above,  the  American  woman  who  had 
this  conversation  with  the  Crown  Prince  vi^rote  out  for 
me  the  exact  conversation  in  her  own  words,  as  follows: 
"I  had  given  him  Norman  Angell's  book,  'The  Great 
Illusion,'  which  seeks  to  prove  that  war  is  unprofitable. 
He  (the  Crown  Prince)  said  that  whether  war  was  profit- 
able or  not,  when  he  came  to  the  throne  there  would  be 
war,  if  not  before,  just  for  the  fun  of  it.  On  a  previous 
occasion  he  had  said  that  the  plan  was  to  attack  and  con- 
quer France,  then  England,  and  after  that  my  country 
(the  United  States  of  America)  ;  Russia  was  also  to  be 
conquered,  and  Germany  would  be  master  of  the  world." 

The  extraordinary  collection  of  relics,  statues,  busts, 
souvenirs,  etc.,  of  the  first  Napoleon,  collected  by  the 
Crown  Prince,  which  he  was  showing  at  the  time  of  the 
first  of  these  conversations  to  this  American  lady,  shows 
the  trend  of  his  mind  and  that  all  his  admiration  is 
centred  upon  Napoleon,  the  man  who  sought  the  mastery 
of  the  world,  and  who  is  thought  by  admirers  like  the 
Crown  Prince  to  have  failed  only  because  of  slight  mis- 
takes which  they  feel,  in  his  place,  they  would  not  have 
made. 

If  the  Germans'  long  preparations  for  war  were  to 
bear  any  fruit,  countless  facts  pointed  to  the  summer  of 
19 14  as  the  time  when  the  army  should  strike  that  great 
and  sudden  blow  at  the  liberties  of  the  world. 

It  was  in  June,  19 14,  that  the  improved  Kiel  Canal  was 
reopened,  enabling  the  greatest  warships  to  pass  from  the 
Baltic  to  the  North  Sea. 

In  the  Zeppelins  the  Germans  had  arms  not  possessed 


CAUSES  WHICH  PREPARED  NATION     75 

by  any  other  country  and  with  which  they  undoubtedly 
believed  that  they  could  do  much  more  damage  to  Great 
Britain  than  was  the  case  after  the  actual  outbreak  of 
hostilities.  They  had  paid  great  attention  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  submarine.  Their  aeroplanes  were  su- 
perior to  those  of  other  nations.  They  believed  that  in 
the  use  of  poison  gas,  which  was  prepared  before  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  they  had  a  prize  that  would  absolutely 
demoralise  their  enemy.  They  had  their  flame  throwers 
and  the  heavy  artillery  and  howitzers  which  reduced  the 
redoubtable  forts  of  Liege  and  Namur  to  fragments 
within  a  few  hours,  and  which  made  the  holding  of  any 
fortresses  impossible. 

On  their  side,  by  the  imposition  of  a  heavy  tax  called 
the  Jf'chrbeitrag  or  supplementary  defence  tax,  they  had, 
in  1 9 13,  increased  their  army  by  a  number  of  army  corps. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  law  for  three  years'  military 
service  voted  in  France  had  not  yet  gone  into  effect,  nor 
had  the  law  for  universal  military  service  voted  by  the 
Belgian  Chambers.  Undoubtedly  the  Germans  based 
great  hopes  upon  the  Bagdad  railway  which  was  to  carry 
their  influence  to  the  East,  and  even  threatened  the  rule 
of  Great  Britain  in  Egypt  and  India.  Undoubtedly  there 
was  talk,  too,  of  a  Slav  railroad  to  run  from  the  Danube 
to  the  Adriatic  which  would  cut  off  Germany  from  access 
to  the  Southern  Sea.  FVancis  Deloisi,  the  Frenchman, 
in  his  book  published  before  the  great  war,  called  "De 
la  Guerre  des  Balkans  a  la  Guerre  luiropeenne,"  says,  "In 
a  word,  the  present  war  (Balkan)  is  the  work  of  Rus- 
sia, and  the  Danube  Asiatic  railway  is  a  Russian  project. 
If  it  succeeds,  a  continuous  barrier  of  Slav  peoples  will 
bar  the  way  to  the  Mediterranean  of  the  path  of  Austro- 
German  expansion  from  the  Black  Sea  to  the  Adriatic. 
But  here  again  the  Romanoffs  confront  the  Hapsburgs, 
the  Austro-Serb  conflict  becomes  the  Austro-Russian  con- 


76  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

flict,  two  great  groups  are  formed,  and  the  Balkan  con- 
flict becomes  the  European  conflict." 

Another  reason  for  an  immediate  war  was  the  loan  by 
France  to  Russia  made  on  condition  that  additional  stra- 
tegic railways  were  to  be  constructed  by  the  Russians  in 
Poland.  Although  this  money  had  been  received,  the 
railways  had  not  been  constructed  at  the  time  of  the 
opening  of  the  Great  War.  Speaking  of  this  situation, 
the  Russian  General  Kuropatkin,  in  his  report  for  the 
year  1900,  said,  '*We  must  cherish  no  illusions  as  to  the 
possibility  of  an  easy  victory  over  the  Austrian  army," 
and  he  then  went  on  to  say,  "'Austria  had  eight  railways 
to  transport  troops  to  the  Russian  frontier  while  Russia 
had  only  four;  and,  while  Germany  had  seventeen  such 
railways  running  to  the  German-Russian  frontier,  the 
Russians  had  only  five."  Kuropatkin  further  said,  "The 
differences  are  too  enormous  and  leave  our  neighbors  a 
superiority  which  cannot  be  overcome  by  the  numbers  of 
our  troops,  or  their  courage." 

Comparing  the  two  armies,  he  said,  "The  invasion  of 
Russia  by  German  troops  is  more  probable  than  the  in- 
vasion of  Germany  by  Russian  troops";  and,  "Our  West- 
ern frontier,  in  the  event  of  a  European  war,  would  be 
in  such  danger  as  it  never  has  known  in  all  the  history  of 
Russia." 

Agitation  by  workmen  in  Russia  was  believed  in  Ger- 
many to  be  the  beginning  of  a  revolution. 

Illuminating  figures  may  be  seen  in  the  gold  purchase 
of  the  German  Imperial  Bank:  in  191 1,  174,000,000 
marks;  in  1912,  173,000,000  marks;  but  in  1913,  317,- 
000,000  marks. 

There  was  a  belief  in  Germany  that  the  French  nation 
was  degenerate  and  corrupt  and  unprepared  for  war. 
This  belief  became  conviction  when,  in  the  debates  of  the 
French  Senate,   Senator  Humbert,   early  in   19 14,  pub- 


CAUSES  WHICH  PREPARED  NATION     77 

llcly  exposed  what  he  claimed  to  be  the  weakness  and  un- 
preparedness  of  France. 

Prince  Lichnowsky,  the  German  Ambassador  in  Lon- 
don, certainly  reported  to  his  government  that  England 
did  not  wish  to  enter  the  war.  He  claims  now  that  he 
did  not  mean  that  Great  Britain  would  not  fight  at  all 
events,  but  undoubtedly  the  German  Foreign  Office  be- 
lieved that  Great  Britain  would  remain  out  of  the  war. 
The  raising  of  the  Ulster  army  by  Sir  Edward  Carson, 
one  of  the  most  gigantic  political  bluffs  in  all  history, 
which  had  no  more  revolutionary  or  military  significance 
than  a  torchlight  parade  during  one  of  our  presidential 
campaigns,  was  reported  by  the  German  spies  as  a  real 
and  serious  revolutionary  movement;  and,  of  course,  it 
was  believed  by  the  Germans  that  Ireland  would  rise  in 
general  rebellion  the  moment  that  war  was  declared.  In 
the  s?ummer  of  19 14  Russia  was  believed  to  be  on  the  edge 
of  revolution. 

As  I  have  said  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  movement 
against  militarism,  culminating  in  the  extraordinary  vote 
in  the  Reichstag  against  the  government  at  the  time  of 
the  Zabern  Affair,  warned  the  government  and  military 
people  that  the  mass  of  Germans  were  coming  to  their 
senses  and  were  preparing  to  shake  off  the  bogy  of  mili- 
tarism and  fear,  which  had  roosted  so  long  on  their 
shoulders  like  a  Prussian  old-man-of-the-sea.  The  Pan- 
Germans  and  the  Annexationists  were  hot  for  war.  The 
people  alive  could  recall  only  three  wars,  the  war  against 
Denmark  in  1864,  which  was  settled  in  a  few  days  and 
added  the  duchies  of  Schleswig  and  Holstein  to  the  Prus- 
sian crown,  and  the  war  of  1866  in  which  Bavaria,  Baden, 
Wiirttemberg,  Hesse-Darmstadt,  and  Saxony  were  de- 
feated, when  the  Austrian  kingdom  of  Hanover  disap- 
peared and  the  territories  of  Hcsse-Casscl  and  Nassau, 
and  the  free  city  of  F>ankfort  were  added  to  Prussia. 
This  war,  from  its  declaration  to  the  battle  of  Kinig- 


78  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

gratz  in  which  the  Austrians  were  completely  defeated, 
lasted  only  two  weeks.  In  1870,  France  was  defeated 
within  a  month  and  a  half  after  the  opening  of  hostilities; 
so  that  the  Kaiser  was  implicitly  believed  when,  on  the 
first  day  of  the  war,  he  appeared  on  the  balcony  of  the 
palace  and  told  the  crowds  who  were  keen  for  war,  that 
"before  the  leaves  have  fallen  from  the  trees  you  will  be 
back  in  your  homes."  The  army  and  all  Germany  be- 
lieved him  and  believed,  too,  that  a  few  short  weeks 
would  see  the  destruction  of  P>ance  and  the  consequent 
seizure  of  her  rich  colonies;  that  Russia  could  then  be 
struck  a  good  quick  blow  before  she  could  concentrate  her 
army  and  resources;  that  Great  Britain  would  remain 
neutral;  and  that  Germany  would  consequently  become, 
it  not  the  actual  owner,  at  least  the  dictator  of  the  world. 
Some  one  has  since  said  that  the  Emperor  must  have 
meant  pine  trees. 

Working  ever  in  the  dark,  either  owning  or  influencing 
newspapers,  the  great  munition  and  arms  factory  of  the 
Krupp's  insidiously  poisoned  the  minds  of  the  people  with 
the  microbe  of  war. 

Prince  Lichnowsky,  the  German  Ambassador  to  Lon- 
don, called  upon  me  often  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war, 
and  insisted  that  he  had  correctly  reported  the  sentiments 
of  Great  Britain  in  saying  that  Great  Britain  did  not 
want  war.  After  his  return  to  Germany  the  Germans 
quite  unfairly  treated  him  as  a  man  who  had  failed  and 
seemed  to  blame  him  because  Great  Britain  had  taken  the 
only  possible  course  open  to  her  and  ranged  herself  on 
the  side  of  France  and  Russia. 

The  dedication  at  Leipzig,  in  the  year  19 13,  of  the 
great  monument  to  celebrate  what  is  called  the  "War  of 
Liberation,"  and  the  victory  of  Leipzig  in  the  War  of  the 
Nations,  1813,  had  undoubtedly  kindled  a  martial  spirit 
in  Germany.  To  my  mind,  the  course  which  really  de- 
termined the  Emperor  and  the  ruling  class  for  war  was 


CAUSES  WHICH  PKJ-PAKKD  NATION     79 

the  attitude  of  the  whole  people  in  the  Zabern  Affair  and 
their  evident  and  growing  dislike  of  militarism.  The 
fact  that  the  Socialists,  at  the  close  of  the  session  of  the 
Reichstag,  boldly  remained  in  the  Chamber  and  refused 
to  rise  or  to  cheer  the  name  of  the  I^mperor  indicated  a 
new  spirit  of  resistance  to  autocracy;  and  autocracy  saw 
that  if  it  was  to  keep  its  hold  upon  Germany  it  must 
lead  the  nation  into  a  short  and  successful  war. 

This  is  no  new  trick  of  a  ruling  and  aristocratic  class. 
From  the  days  when  the  patricians  of  Rome  forced  the 
people  into  war  whenever  the  people  showed  a  disposi- 
tion to  demand  their  rights,  autocracies  have  always 
turned  to  war  as  the  best  antidote  against  the  spirit  of 
democracy. 


CHAPTER  VI 

AT  KIEL  JUST  BEFORE  THE  WAR 

lEL,  situated  on  the  Baltic,  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  peninsula  of  Jutland  near  the  Baltic  entrance  of 
the  Kiel  Canal,  is  the  principal  naval  centre  of  Germany. 

When  the  Germans  decided  to  build  up  a  great  fleet 
the  Emperor  used  evei*y  means  to  encourage  a  love  of 
yachting  and  of  the  sea,  and  endeavoured  to  make  the 
Kiel  Week  a  rival  of  the  week  at  Cowes,  the  British 
yachting  centre. 

With  this  end  in  view,  the  rich  Germans  were  en- 
couraged and  almost  commanded  to  build  and  race  yachts ; 
and  Americans  and  others  who  visited  Kiel  in  their 
yachts  were  entertained  by  the  Emperor  in  an  intimacy 
impossible  if  they  had  come  to  Berlin  merely  as  tourists, 
residing  in  a  hotel. 

In  June,  19 14,  we  went  to  Kiel  as  guests  of  Allison 
Armour  of  Chicago,  on  his  yacht,  the  Utowana.  I  was 
detained  by  business  in  Berlin  and  Mrs.  Gerard  preceded 
me  to  Kiel.  I  arrived  there  on  Saturday,  the  twenty- 
seventh  of  June,  and  that  night  went  with  Armour  to  dine 
with  the  Emperor  on  board  the  Emperor's  yacht, 
Hohenzollern. 

In  the  harbour  were  a  fair  number  of  German  yachts, 
mostly  sailing  yachts,  taking  part  in  the  races;  the  fine 
old  yacht  of  Lord  Brassey,  The  Sunbeam,  and  the  yacht 
of  the  Prince  of  Monaco,  in  which  he  conducts  his  sci- 
entific voyages.  A  great  British  fleet,  comprising  some 
of  the  most  powerful  dreadnoughts,  had  also  arrived, 
sent  as  an  earnest  of  the  good  will  and  kindly  feeling  then 

80 


AT  KIEL  JUST  BEFORE  THE  WAR       5i 

supposed  to  exist  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany. 
The  redoubtable  von  Tirpitz  was  present  on  a  German 
battleship,  and  the  Hamburg  American  Line  had  an  old 
transatlantic  steamer,  the  Deutschland,  rechristened  the 
Victoria  Liiise,  filled  with  guests,  most  of  whom  were 
invited  on  a  hint  from  the  Emperor. 

At  dinner  on  the  Hohenzollern  a  number  of  British 
were  present.  The  Kaiser  had  on  one  side  of  him  the 
wife  of  the  British  Admiral,  Lady  Maud  Warrender,  and 
on  the  other  side,  the  Countess  of  March,  whose  husband 
is  heir  to  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  I  sat  between  Princess 
Miinster  and  the  Countess  of  March,  and  after  dinner 
the  Emperor  drew  me  over  to  the  rail  of  the  ship,  and 
talked  to  me  for  some  time.  I  wish  that  diplomatic 
etiquette  would  permit  me  to  reveal  what  he  said,  but 
even  in  war  time  I  do  not  think  I  ought  to  violate  the 
confidence  that  hospitality  seals.  However  important  and 
interesting,  especially  to  the  tame  Socialists  of  Germany, 
I  do  not  give  this  conversation  with  the  Emperor,  nor  the 
conversation  with  him  and  Colonel  House  at  the  Schrip- 
penfest,  because  I  was  his  guest.  Conversations  with 
the  Emperor  which  I  had  on  later  occasions  were  at 
official  audiences  and  to  these  the  same  rule  does  not 
apply.  He  also  invited  me  to  sail  with  him  in  his  yacht, 
the  Meteor,  in  the  races  from  Kiel  to  Eckernfjord  on  the 
coming  Tuesday. 

Sunday  afternoon  Prince  Henry  and  his  wife,  who 
reside  in  the  castle  at  Kiel,  were  to  give  an  afternoon 
reception  and  garden  party;  but  on  arriving  at  the  gates 
we  were  told  that  the  party  would  not  take  place.  After 
going  on  board  the  Utozcana,  Frederick  W.  Wile,  the 
celebrated  correspondent  of  the  London  Daily  Mail, 
ranged  up  alongside  in  a  small  launch  and  informed  us 
that  the  Arch  Duke  Franz  Ferdinand,  the  heir  to  the 
Austrian  throne,  and  his  wife  had  been  assassinated  at 
Sarajevo.     There  was  much  rushing  to  and  fro  in  fast 


82  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

launches,  the  Emperor  himself  being  summoned  from  the 
race  which  was  in  progress.  That  night  we  dined  on 
board  the  yacht  of  the  Prince  of  Monaco.  All  the  diplo- 
mats and  notables  whom  I  met  during  the  afternoon  and 
evening  seemed  to  think,  that  there  was  no  chance  that 
the  tragedy  at  Sarajevo  would  lead  to  war.  The  next 
morning  the  Emperor  left  early  for  Berlin,  but  expressly 
directed  that  the  festivities  and  races  at  Kiel  should  be 
carried  out  as  arranged. 

Monday  afternoon  there  was  a  Bierabend  in  the  large 
hall  of  the  yacht  club  at  Kiel.  The  Emperor  was  to 
have  presided  at  this  dinner,  but  his  place  was  taken  by 
his  brother,  Prince  Henry.  Sir  Edward  Goschen,  the 
British  Ambassador,  who  was  living  on  one  of  the  British 
battleships,  sat  on  his  right  and  I  sat  on  his  left.  During 
the  evening  a  curious  incident  happened.  The  Prince  and 
1  were  talking  of  the  dangers  of  after-dinner  speaking 
and  what  a  dangerous  sport  it  was.  In  the  midst  of  our 
conversation  some  one  whispered  to  the  Prince  and  he 
rose  to  his  feet,  proposed  the  health  of  the  visiting  British 
Admiral  and  fleet,  and  made  a  little  speech.  As  he  con- 
cluded, he  said,  addressing  the  officers  of  the  British  fleet: 
"We  are  sorry  you  are  going  and  we  are  sorry  you  carne," 
It  is  remarkable  as  showing  the  discipline  of  the  German 
nation  and  their  respect  for  authority  that  thereafter  no 
German  ever  referred  to  this  curious  slip  of  the  tongue. 
7'he  night  was  rather  mild  and  after  dinner  we  walked 
about  the  gardens  of  the  yacht  club.  I  had  a  long  and 
interesting  conversation  with  the  Prince  of  Monaco.  That 
Prince,  who  receives  such  a  large  income  from  the  com- 
pany which  carries  on  the  gambling  rooms  at  Monte 
Carlo,  is  a  man  of  the  world  intensely  interested  in  scien- 
tific research:  there  is  practically  no  corner  of  the  seven 
seas  into  which  his  yacht  has  not  poked  her  nose  in  the 
search  for  m^atcrial  for  the  Sea  Museum  which  he  has  es- 
tablished at  Monaco. 


AT  KIEL  JUST  BEFORE  THE  WAR       83 

On  Tuesday  Armour  and  I  boarded  the  Emperor's 
sailing  yacht,  the  new  Meteor.  The  race  was  a  beautiful 
run  from  Kiel  to  Eckernfjord  and  was  won  by  the 
Meteor.  As  the  Emperor  was  not  on  board,  I  did  not 
get  one  of  the  souvenir  scarf-pins  always  given  to  guests 
who  sail  with  him  on  a  winning  race.  Among  our  crew 
was  Grand  Admiral  von  Koster,  subsequently  an  advocate 
of  the  ruthless  submarine  war. 

Eckernfjord  is  a  little  fishing  and  bathing  town.  Near 
by  is  the  country  residence  of  Prince  Henry,  a  rather 
modest  house,  built  in  brick  in  English  Elizabethan  style. 
The  wife  of  Prince  Henry  was  a  Princess  of  Hesse-Darm- 
stadt and  is  the  sister  of  the  Czarina  of  Russia.  Wt  had 
tea  with  Prince  and  Princess  Henry,  their  family,  the 
Duke  of  Sonderburg-Gliicksburg  and  several  others  of  his 
family.  The  billiard  room  of  the  house  is  decorated  with 
the  large  original  caricatures  made  by  McCutcheon  of 
the  Prince's  stay  in  America.  Prince  and  Princess  Henry 
came  out  to  dine  on  the  Utowana,  and  Armour  and  the 
Prince  went  ashore  to  attend  another  Bierabend,  but  I 
dodged  the  smoke  and  beer  and  remained  on  board. 
Before  he  left  the  yacht,  1  had  a  talk  with  Prince  Elenry. 
He  seemed  most  exercised  over  the  dislike  of  the  Ger- 
mans by  all  other  peoples  and  asked  me  why  I  thought 
it  existed.  I  politely  told  him  that  I  thought  it  existed 
because  of  the  success  which  the  Germans  had  had  in 
all  fields  of  endeavour,  particularly  in  manufacturing  and 
commerce.  He  said,  with  great  truth,  that  he  believed  a 
great  deal  of  it  came  from  the  bad  manners  of  the  travel- 
ling Germans.  Prince  Henry  is  an  able  and  reasonable 
man  with  a  most  delightful  manner.  He  speaks  Eng- 
lish with  a  perfect  English  accent,  and  I  think  would  be 
far  happier  as  an  English  country  gentleman  than  as  the 
Grand  Admiral  of  the  German  Baltic  Fleet.  He  has 
been   devoted   to   automobiling  and   has   greatly   encour- 


84  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

aged  that  industry  in  Germany.     The  Automobile  Club 
of  Berlin  is  his  particular  pet. 

On  returning  to  Kiel  next  day  we  spent  several  days 
longer  there.  I  lunched  on  board  his  battleship  with 
Grand  Admiral  von  Tirpitz,  sitting  next  to  him  at  the 
table.  He  struck  me  then  as  an  amiable  sea  dog,  combin- 
ing much  political  and  worldly  wisdom  with  his  knowledge 
of  the  sea.  From  Kiel  we  motored  one  night  to  dine  with 
a  Count  and  Countess  in  their  country  house.  This  house 
had  been  built  perhaps  two  hundred  years,  and  was  on  one 
side  of  a  square,  the  other  three  sides  being  formed  by  the 
great  stone  barns  in  which  the  produce  of  the  estate  was 
stored.  Although  the  first  floor  of  the  house  was  elevated 
about  eight  feet  above  the  ground,  the  family,  on  account 
of  the  dampness  of  that  part  of  the  world,  lived  in  the 
second  story,  and  the  dining  room  was  on  this  story.  An 
ancestor  of  the  Count  had,  at  a  time  when  this  part  of 
the  country  was  part  of  Denmark  and  about  the  year 
1700,  lent  all  his  available  money  to  the  King  of  Den- 
mark. A  crude  painting  in  the  hall  showed  him  sitting 
in  the  hall  of  this  particular  house,  smoking  a  long  pipe 
and  surrounded  by  three  or  four  sisters  who  were  all 
spinning.  Our  hostess  told  us  that  this  picture  represented 
the  lending  ancestor  being  supported  by  his  sisters  while 
waiting  the  return  of  the  loan  which  he  had  made  to  the 
Danish  king,  an  early  example  of  the  situation  disclosed 
by  the  popular  song  which  runs:  "Everybody  works  but 
father."  Of  course,  no  one  ever  expected  a  Prussian 
nobleman  to  do  any  work  except  in  the  line  of  war  or  in 
governing  the  inferior  classes  of  the  country. 


s.';.i^li<JI 


B^:-;?V.»fa^.. 


THE   EMi'EKOKS    VACHT,   Ax\U   UTllEKS.    AT    KIKI. 


~\  -iKm^mSmhtt^tir    in 


THE     HOHENZOLLERN 


AMBASSADOR  GERARD  ON    HIS   WAY   TO   HIS   SHOOTING   PRESERVE 


A  KEEPER  AND  BEATERS   ON    SHOOTING   PRESERVh.      il    MloVVS   THE   EARLY 
INOCULATION   OF   DISCIPLINE   INTO  THE  GERMAN    SMALL   BOY 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  SYSTEM 

PEOPLE  of  Other  countries  have  been  wondering 
why  it  is  that  the  German  government  is  able  so 
easily  to  impose  its  will  upon  the  German  people.  I  have 
set  out  in  another  chapter,  in  detail,  the  political  system 
from  which  you  have  seen  that  the  Reichstag  is  nothing 
but  a  debating  society;  that  the  Prussians  do  not  really 
have  universal  suffrage  but,  by  reason  of  the  vicious 
circle  system  of  voting,  the  elective  franchise  remains 
in  the  hands  of  the  few;  and  that  the  government  of  the 
country  through  the  Landrdte,  Regicrungsprdsidenten  and 
Oberprdsidcnten  is  a  central  system  from  above  down- 
wards and  not  the  election  of  the  rulers  by  the  people; 
and,  in  the  chapter  on  militarism  and  Zabern,  I  have 
told  by  what  means  the  control  of  the  army  is  kept  in 
the  hands  of  the  class  of  nobles. 

These  are  not  the  only  means  by  which  the  system 
controls  the  country.  These  alone  would  not  suffice. 
From  the  time  when  he  is  four  years  old,  the  German  is 
disciplined  and  taught  that  his  government  is  the  only 
good  and  effective  form.  The  teachers  in  the  schools  are 
all  government  paid  and  teach  the  children  only  the  prin- 
ciples desired  by  the  rulers  of  the  German  people.  There 
are  no  Saturday  holidays  in  the  German  schools  and  their 
summer  holidays  are  for  only  three  to  five  weeks.  You 
never  see  gangs  of  small  boys  in  Germany.  Their  games 
and  their  walks  are  superintended  by  their  teachers  who 
are  always  inculcating  in  them  reverence  and  awe  for  the 
military  heroes  of  the  past  and  present.     On  Saturday 

85 


86  xMY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

night  the  German  boy  is  turned  over  by  the  State  paid 
school  teacher  to  the  State  paid  pastor  who  adds  divine 
authority  to  the  principles  of  reverence  for  the  German 
system. 

There  is  a  real  system  of  caste  in  Germany.  For  in- 
stance, I  was  playing  tennis  one  day  with  a  man  and, 
while  dressing  afterwards,  I  asked  him  what  he  was. 
He  answered  that  he  was  a  Kaiifmann,  or  merchant.  For 
the  German  this  answer  was  enough.  It  placed  him  in 
the  merchant  class.  I  asked  him  what  sort  of  a  Kaufmann 
he  was.  He  then  told  me  he  was  president  of  a  large 
electrical  company.  Of  course,  with  us  he  would  have 
answered  first  that  he  was  president  of  the  electrical 
company,  but  being  a  German  he  simply  disclosed  his 
caste  without  going  into  details.  It  is  a  curious  thing 
on  the  registers  of  guests  in  a  German  summer  resort  to 
see  Mrs.  Manufactory-Proprietor  Schultze  registered  with 
Mrs.  Landrat  Schwartz  and  Mrs.  Second  Lieutenant  von 
Bing.  Of  course,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  the  relative 
social  positions  of  Mrs.  Manufactory-Proprietor  Schultze 
and  Mrs.  Second  Lieutenant  von  Bing.  Mrs.  Manufac- 
tory-Proprietor Schultze  may  have  a  steam  yacht  and  a 
tiara,  an  opera  box  and  ten  million  marks.  She  may  be 
an  old  lady  noted  for  her  works  of  charity.  Her  husband 
may  have  made  discoveries  of  enormous  value  to  the 
human  race,  but  she  will  always  be  compelled  to  take 
her  place  behind  Mrs.  Second  Lieutenant  von  Bing,  even 
if  the  latter  is  only  seventeen  years  old. 

Of  course,  occasionally,  officers  of  the  army  and  navy 
condescend  to  marry  into  the  merchant  caste,  and  if  a  girl 
has  a  choice  of  three  equally  attractive  young  men,  one  a 
doctor,  earning  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year;  one  a  manu- 
facturer, earning  the  same  amount;  and  one  an  army  offi- 
cer with  a  "von"  before  his  name  and  three  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  there  is  no  hesitation  on  her  part:  she  takes 
the  noble  and  the  army  officer. 


THE  SYSIEM  87 

For  years  all  the  highest  official  positions  of  the  gov- 
ernment have  been  held  by  members  of  the  Prussian  noble 
class,  and  when  Zimmermann,  of  a  substantial  family  in 
Hast  Prussia,  but  not  of  noble  birth,  was  made  Foreign 
Minister,  the  most  intense  surprise  was  exhibited  all  over 
Germany  at  this  innovation. 

One  of  the  most  succes'jful  ways  of  disciplining  the 
people  is  by  the  Rat  system.  Rat  means  councillor,  and 
is  a  title  of  honour  given  to  any  one  who  has  attained  a 
certain  measure  of  success  or  standing  in  his  chosen  busi- 
ness or  profession.  For  instance,  a  business  man  is 
made  a  commerce  Rat;  a  lawyer,  a  justice  Rat;  a  doctor, 
a  sanitary  Rat;  an  architect  or  builder,  a  building  Rat; 
a  keeper  of  the  archives,  an  archive  Rat;  and  so  on.  They 
are  created  in  this  way:  first,  a  man  becomes  a  plain  Rat, 
then,  later  on,  he  becomes  a  secret  Rat  or  privy  coun- 
cillor; still  later,  a  court  secret  Rat  and,  later  still,  a 
wirklicher,  or  really  and  truly  secret  court  Rat  to  which 
may  be  added  the  title  of  Excellency,  which  puts  the  man 
who  has  attained  this  absolutely  at  the  head  of  the  Rat 
ladder. 

But  see  the  insidious  working  of  the  system.  By  Ger- 
man custom  the  woman  always  carries  the  husband's  title. 
The  wife  of  a  successful  builder  Is  known  as  Mrs,  Really 
Truly  Secret  Court  Building  Rat  and  her  social  precedence 
over  the  other  women  depends  entirely  upon  her  hus- 
band's position  in  the  Rat  class.  Titles  of  nobility  alone 
do  not  count  when  they  come  in  contact  with  a  high  gov- 
ernment position.  Now  if  a  lawyer  gets  to  be  about 
forty  years  old  and  Is  not  some  sort  of  a  Rat,  his  wife 
begins  to  nag  him  and  his  friends  and  relations  look  at 
him  with  suspicion.  There  must  be  something  in  his  life 
which  prevents  his  obtaining  the  coveted  distinction  and 
if  there  is  anything  in  a  man's  past,  If  he  has  shown  at  any 
time  any  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  government,  as  dis- 
closed by  the  police  registers,  which  are  kept  written  up 


88  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

to  date  about  every  German  citizen,  then  he  has  no  chance 
of  obtaining  any  of  these  distinctions  which  make  up  so 
much  of  the  social  life  of  Germany.  It  is  a  means  by 
which  the  government  keeps  a  far  tighter  hold  on  the  in- 
tellectual part  of  its  population  than  if  they  were  threat- 
ened with  torture  and  the  stake.  The  Social  Democrats, 
who,  of  course,  have  declared  themselves  against  the  ex- 
isting system  of  government  and  in  favour  of  a  republic, 
can  receive  no  distinctions  from  the  government  because 
they  dared  to  lift  their  voices  and  their  pena  in  criticism 
of  the  existing  order.  For  them  there  is  the  fear  of  the 
law.  Convictions  for  the  crime  of  Lese-Majeste  are  of 
almost  daily  occurrence  and,  at  the  opening  of  the  war, 
an  amnesty  was  granted  in  many  of  these  cases,  the  min- 
istry of  war  withdrawing  many  prosecutions  against  poor 
devils  waiting  their  trial  in  jail  because  they  had  dared 
to  speak  disrespectfully  of  the  army.  The  following 
quotation  from  a  German  book,  written  since  the  war, 
shovv's  very  clearly  that  this  state  of  affairs  existed:  "In 
the  beneficent  atmosphere  of  general  amnesty  came  the 
news  that  the  Minister  of  War  had  withdrawn  pending 
prosecutions  against  newspapers  on  account  of  their  in- 
sults to  the  army  or  its  members."  (Dr.  J.  Jastrow, 
"Im  Kriegszustand.") 

Besides  the  Rat  system  and  the  military  system,  there 
exists  the  enormous  mass  of  Prussian  officials.  In  a 
country  where  so  many  things  are  under  government  con- 
trol these  officials  are  almost  immeasurably  more  numer- 
ous than  in  other  countries.  In  Prussia,  for  example,  all 
the  railways  are  government-owned,  with  the  exception  of 
one  road  about  sixty  miles  long  and  a  few  small  branch 
roads.  This  army  of  officials  are  retainers  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  not  only,  of  course,  themselves  refrain  from 
criticising  the  system,  but  also  use  their  influence  upon 
the  members  of  their  own  family  and  all  with  whom  they 
come  in  contact.     They  are  subject  to  trial  in  special  se- 


THE  SYSTEM  89 

crct  courts  and  one  of  them  who  dared  In  any  way  to 
criticise  the  existing  system  would  not  for  long  remain 
a  member  of  it.  Of  course,  the  members  of  the  Reichstag 
have  the  privilege  of  free  speech  without  responsibility, 
and  there  are  occasional  Socialists,  who  know  that  they 
have  nothing  to  expect  from  the  government,  who  dare  to 
speak  in  criticism. 

All  the  newspapers  are  subject  to  control  as  in  no 
other  country.  In  the  first  place  their  proprietors  are 
subject  to  the  influence  of  the  Rat  system  as  is  every 
other  German,  and  the  newspaper  proprietor,  whose  sons 
perhaps  enter  the  army,  whose  daughters  may  be  married 
to  naval  officers  or  officials,  and  who  seeks  for  his  sons 
promotion  as  judge,  state's  attorney,  etc.,  has  to  be  very 
careful  that  the  utterances  of  his  newspaper  do  not  pre- 
vent his  promotion  in  the  social  scale  or  interfere  with 
the  career  of  his  family  and  relations. 

Since  the  war  while  a  preventive  censure  does  not  exist 
in  Germany  nevertheless  a  newspaper  may  be  suppressed 
at  will;  a  fearful  punishment  for  a  newspaper,  which,  by 
being  suppressed  for,  say,  five  days  or  a  week,  has  Its 
business  affairs  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion  and 
suffers  an  enormous  direct  loss. 

Many  of  the  larger  newspapers  are  either  owned  or 
influenced  by  concerns  like  the  Krupps'.  For  instance, 
during  this  war,  all  news  coming  from  Germany  to  other 
countries  has  been  furnished  by  either  the  Over-Seas  or 
Trans-Ocean  service,  both  news  agencies  in  which  the 
Krupps  are  large  stockholders.  The  smaller  newspapers 
are  influenced  directly  by  the  government. 

In  the  Middle  Ages  there  was  often  declared  a  sort  of 
truce  to  prevent  fighting  In  a  city,  which  was  called  the 
Burgfrieden  or  "peace  of  the  city,"  and,  at  the  beginning 
of  this  war,  all  political  parties  were  supposed  to  declare 
a  sort  of  Burgfrieden  and  not  try  to  obtain  any  political 
advantage. 


90  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

There  was,  therefore,  intense  indignation  among  the 
Social  Democrats  of  Germany  when  it  was  discovered,  in 
the  spring  of  191 6,  that  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  was 
making  arrangements  to  send  out  news  service  to  be 
furnished  free  to  the  smaller  newspapers,  and  that  he 
was  engaged  in  instructing  the  various  Landrdte  and 
other  officials  of  the  Interior  Department  how  effectively 
to  use  this  machinery  in  order  to  gull  the  people  to  the 
advantage  of  the  government,  and  to  keep  them  in  igno- 
rance of  anything  which  might  tend  to  turn  them  against 
the  system. 

Besides  the  Rat  system  there  is,  of  course,  the  system 
of  decorations.  Countless  orders  and  decorations  are 
given  in  Germany.  At  the  head  is  the  Order  of  the  Black 
Eagle;  there  are  the  Order  of  the  Red  Eagle,  the  Prus- 
sian Order  of  the  Crown,  the  orders,  "Pour  le  Merite," 
the  Order  of  the  House  of  Hohenzollern,  and  many  oth- 
ers, and  in  each  of  the  twenty-five  States  there  are  also 
orders,  distinctions  and  decorations.  These  orders  in 
turn  are  divided  into  numerous  classes.  For  instance,  a 
man  can  have  the  Red  Eagle  order  of  the  first,  second, 
third  or  fourth  class,  and  these  may  be  complicated  with 
a  laurel  crown,  with  an  oak  crown,  with  swords  and  with 
stars,  etc.  Even  domestic  servants,  who  have  served  a 
long  time  in  one  family,  receive  orders;  and  faithful 
postmen  and  other  officials  who  have  never  appeared  on 
the  police  books  for  having  made  statements  against  the 
government  or  the  army  are  sure  of  receiving  some  sort 
of  order. 

Once  a  year  in  Berlin  a  great  festival  is  held  called  the 
Ordensfest,  when  all  who  hold  orders  or  decorations  of 
any  kind  are  invited  to  a  great  banquet.  The  butler,  who 
has  served  for  twenty-five  years,  there  rubs  shoulders  with 
the  diplomat  who  has  received  a  Black  Eagle  for  adding  a 
colony  to  the  German  Empire,  and  the  faithful  cook  may 
be   seated  near   an   officer   who   has   obtained   "Pour   le 


liii:  svsiJMVi  91 

Merite"  for  sinking  an  enemy  warship.  All  this  in  one 
sense  is  democratic,  but  in  its  effect  it  tends  to  induce  the 
plain  people  to  be  satisfied  with  a  piece  of  ribbon  instead 
of  the  right  to  vote,  and  to  make  them  upholders  of  a 
system  by  which  they  are  deprived  of  any  opportunity 
to  make  a  real  advance  in  life. 

This  system  is  the  most  complete  that  has  ever  existed 
in  any  country,  because  it  has  drawn  so  many  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  country  into  its  meshes.  Practically,  the 
industrial  workers  of  the  great  towns  and  the  stupid  peas- 
ants in  the  country  are  the  only  people  in  Germany  left 
out  of  its  net. 

I  had  a  shooting  place  very  near  Berlin,  in  fact  I  could 
reach  it  in  three  quarters  of  an  hour  by  motor  from  the 
Embassy  door,  and  there  I  had  an  opportunity  of  study- 
ing the  conditions  of  life  of  the  peasant  class. 

Germany  is  still  a  country  of  great  proprietors.  Lands 
may  be  held  there  by  a  tenure  which  was  abolished  in  Great 
Britain  hundreds  of  years  ago.  \n  Great  Britain,  prop- 
erty may  only  be  tied  up  under  fixed  conditions  during  the 
lives  of  certain  chosen  people,  in  being  at  the  death  of  the 
testator.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  property  may  only 
be  tied  up  during  the  lives  of  two  persons,  in  being  at  the 
death  of  the  person  making  the  will,  and  for  twenty-one 
years  (the  minority  of  an  infant)  thereafter.  But  in  the 
Central  Empires,  property  still  may  be  tied  up  for  an  in- 
definite period  under  the  feudal  system,  so  that  great 
estates,  no  matter  how  extravagant  the  life  tenant  may  be, 
are  not  sold  and  do  not  come  into  the  market  for  division 
among  the  people. 

For  instance,  to-da^  there  exist  estates  in  the  Central 
Empires  which  must  pass  from  oldest  son  to  oldest  son 
indefinitely  and,  failing  that,  to  the  next  in  line,  and 
so  on;  and  conditions  have  even  been  annexed  bv  which 
children  cannot  inherit  if  their  father  has  married  a  woman 
not  of  a  stated  number  of  quarterings  of  nobility.     There 


92         MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

is  a  Prince  holding  great  estates  in  Hungary.  He  is  a 
bachelor  and  if  he  desires  his  children  to  inherit  these 
estates  there  are  only  thirteen  girls  in  the  world  whom  he 
can  marry,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  instrument  by 
which  some  distant  ancestor  founded  this  inheritance. 

This  vicious  system  has  prevented  extensive  peasant 
proprietorship.  The  government,  however,  to  a  certain 
extent,  has  encouraged  peasant  proprietorship,  but  only 
with  very  small  parcels  of  land;  and  it  would  be  an  un- 
usual thing  in  Germany,  especially  in  Prussia,  to  find  a 
peasant  owning  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  acres  of 
land,  most  of  the  land  being  held  by  the  peasants  in  such 
small  quantities  that  after  working  their  own  lands  they 
have  time  left  to  work,  the  lands  of  the  adjoining  landed 
proprietor  at  a  very  small  wage. 

All  the  titles  of  the  nobility  are  not  confined  to  the 
oldest  son.  The  "Pocketbook  of  Counts,"  published  by 
the  same  firm  which  publishes  the  "Almanac  de  Gotha," 
contains  the  counts  of  Austria,  Germany  and  Hungary  to- 
gether, showing  in  this  way  the  intimate  personal  rela- 
tion between  the  noble  families  of  these  three  countries. 
All  the  sons  of  a  count  are  counts,  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum. 
Thus  in  Hungary  there  are  probably  seventy  Counts 
Szecheny  and  about  the  same  number  of  Zichy,  etc.  Some 
of  the  German  noble  families  are  not  far  behind.  In 
fact  it  may  be  said  that  almost  any  person,  in  what  is 
known  as  "society"  in  the  Central  Empires,  has  a  title 
of  some  sort.  The  prefix  "von"  shows  that  the  person 
is  a  noble  and  is  often  coupled  with  names  of  people  who 
have  no  title.  By  custom  in  Germany,  a  "von"  when  he 
goes  abroad  is  allowed  to  call  himself  Baron.  But  in 
Germany  he  could  not  do  so.  These  noble  families  in  the 
Central  Empires,  by  the  system  of  Majorat  which  I  have 
described,  hold  large  landed  estates,  and  naturally  exert 
a  great  influence  upon  their  labourers.  As  a  rule  the  sys- 
tem of  tenant  farming  does  not  exist;  that  is,  estates  are 


THE  SYSTEM  93 

not  leased  to  small  farmers  as  was  the  custom  in  Ireland 
and  is  still  in  Great  Britain,  but  estates  are  worked  as 
great  agricultural  enterprises  under  superintendents  ap- 
pointed by  the  proprietor.  This  system,  impossible  in 
America  or  even  in  Great  Britain,  is  possible  in  the  Cen- 
tral Empires  where  the  villages  are  full  of  peasants  who, 
not  so  many  generations  ago,  were  serfs  attached  to  the 
land  and  who  lived  in  wholesome  fear  of  the  landed  pro- 
prietors. 

This  is  the  first  method  by  which  influence  is  exercised 
on  the  population.  There  is  also  the  restricted  franchise 
or  "circle  voting"  which  gives  the  control  of  the  franchise 
to  a  few  rich  proprietors. 

As  a  rule,  the  oldest  son  enters  the  army  as  an  officer 
and  may  continue,  but  if  he  has  not  displayed  any  special 
aptitude  for  the  military  profession  he  retires  and  man- 
ages his  estate.  These  estates  are  calculated  by  their 
proprietors  to  give  at  least  four  per  cent  interest  income 
on  the  value  of  the  land.  Many  younger  sons  after  a 
short  term  of  service  in  the  army,  usually  as  officers  and 
not  as  Einjdhriger  leave  the  army  and  enter  diplomacy 
or  some  other  branch  of  the  government  service.  The 
offices  of  judge,  district  attorney,  etc.,  not  being  elective, 
this  career  as  well  as  that  leading  to  the  position  of 
Landrat  and  over-president  of  a  province  is  open  to  those 
who,  because  they  belong  to  old  Prussian  landed  families, 
find  favour  in  the  eyes  of  the  government.  Much  is  heard 
in  Germany  and  out  of  Germany  of  the  Prussian  Squire 
or  Junker. 

There  is  no  leisure  class  among  the  Junkers.  They 
are  all  workers,  patriotic,  honest  and  devoted  to  the  Em- 
peror and  the  Fatherland.  If  it  is  possible  that  govern- 
ment by  one  class  is  to  be  suffered,  then  the  Prussian 
Junkers  have  proved  themselves  more  fit  for  rule  than 
any  class  in  all  history.  Their  virtues  are  Spartan,  their 
minds  narrow  but  incorruptible,  and  their  bravery  and 


94  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

patriotism  undoubted.  One  can  but  admire  them  and 
their  stern  virtues.  This  class,  largely  because  of  its 
poverty  and  its  constant  occupation,  does  not  travel;  nor 
does  the  casual  tourist  or  health  seeker  in  Germany  come 
in  contact  with  these  men.  The  Junkers  will  fight  hard 
to  keep  their  privileges,  and  the  throne  will  fight  hard 
for  the  Junkers  because  they  are  the  greatest  supporters 
of  the  Hohenzollerns. 

The  workingmen  in  the  cities  are  hard  workers  and 
probably  work  longer  and  get  less  out  of  life  than  any 
Workingmen  in  the  world.  The  laws  so  much  admired 
and  made  ostensibly  for  their  protection,  such  as  insur- 
ance against  unemployment,  sickness,  injury,  old  age,  etc., 
are  in  reality  skilful  measures  which  bind  them  to  the 
soil  as  effectively  as  the  serfs  of  the  Middle  Ages  were 
bound  to  their  masters'  estates. 

I  have  had  letters  from  workingmen  who  have  worked 
in  America  begging  me  for  a  steerage  fare  to  America, 
saying  that  their  insurance  payments  were  so  large  that 
they  could  not  save  money  out  of  their  wages.  Of  course, 
after  having  made  these  payments  for  some  years,  the 
workingman  naturally  hesitates  to  emigrate  and  so  lose 
all  the  premiums  he  has  paid  to  the  State.  In  peace  times 
a  skilled  mechanic  in  Germany  received  less  than  two 
dollars  a  day,  for  which  he  was  compelled  to  work  at  least 
ten  hours.  Agricultural  labourers  in  the  Central  Empires 
are  poorly  paid.  The  women  do  much  of  the  work  done 
here  by  men.  For  instance,  once  when  staying  at  a  noble- 
man's estate  in  Hungary,  I  noticed  that  the  gardeners 
were  all  women,  and,  on  inquiring  how  much  they  re- 
ceived, I  was  told  they  were  paid  about  twenty  cents  a 
day.  The  women  in  the  farming  districts  of  Germany 
are  worked  harder  than  the  cattle.  In  summer  time  they 
are  out  in  the  fields  at  five  or  six  in  the  morning  and  do 
not  return  until  eight  or  later  at  night.  P^or  this  worrk 
they  are  sametimes  paid  as  high  as  forty-eight  cents  a  day 


THE  SYSl  KM  95 

in  harvest  time.  Nevertheless,  these  small  wages  tempt 
many  Russians  to  Germany  during  tke  harvest  season. 
At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  there  were  perhaps  fifty  thou- 
sand Russians  employed  in  Germany;  men,  women  and 
girls.  These  the  Germans  retained  in  a  sort  of  slavery 
to  work  the  fields.  I  spoke  to  one  Polish  girl  who  was 
working  on  an  estate  over  which  I  had  shooting  rights, 
near  Berlin.  She  told  me  that  at  the  commencement  of 
the  war  she  and  her  family  were  working  in  Germany 
and  that  since  the  war  they  all  desired  to  return  to  Poland 
but  that  the  Germans  would  not  permit  it. 

This  hard  working  of  women  in  agricultural  pursuits 
tends  to  stupefy  and  brutalise  the  rural  population  and 
keeps  them  in  a  condition  of  subjection  to  the  Prussian 
Church  and  the  Prussian  system,  and  in  readiness  for  war. 
Both  Prussian  Junkers  and  the  German  manufacturers 
look  with  favour  upon  the  employment  of  so  many  women 
in  farm  work  because  the  greater  the  number  of  the  la- 
bourers, the  smaller  their  wages  throughout  the  country. 

When  I  first  came  to  Germany  I,  of  course,  was  filled 
with  the  ideas  that  prevailed  in  America  that  the  Ger- 
man workingman  had  an  easy  time.  My  mind  was  filled 
with  pictures  of  the  German  workingmen  sitting  with 
their  families  at  tables,  drinking  beer  and  listening  to 
classical  music.  After  I  had  spent  some  time  in  Germany, 
1  found  that  the  reason  that  the  German  workingmen  sat 
about  the  tables  was  because  they  were  to  tired  to  do 
anything  else. 

1  sincerely  hope  that  after  the  war  the  workingmen 
of  this  country  will  induce  delegates  of  their  German 
brothers  to  make  a  tour  of  America.  For  when  the  Ger- 
man workingmen  see  how  much  better  off  the  Americans 
are,  they  will  return  to  Germany  and  demand  shorter 
hours  and  higher  wages;  and  the  American  will  not  be 
brought  into  competition  with  labour  slaves  such  as  the 
German  workingmen  of  the  period  before  the  war. 


96  MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

As  one  goes  through  the  streets  of  Berlin  there  are  no 
evidences  of  poverty  to  be  seen;  but  over  fifty-five  per 
cent  of  the  famihes  in  Berlin  are  families  living  in  one 
room. 

The  Germans  are  taken  care  of  and  educated  very 
much  in  the  same  way  that  the  authorities  here  look  after 
the  inmates  of  a  poor-house  or  penitentiary.  Such  a  thing 
as  a  German  railway  conductor  rising  to  be  president 
of  the  road  is  an  impossibility  in  Germany;  and  the  list 
of  self-made  men  is  small  indeed, — by  that  I  mean  men 
who  have  risen  from  the  ranks  of  the  workingmen. 

The  Socialists,  representing  the  element  opposed  to  the 
Conservatives,  elect  a  few  members  to  the  Prussian  Lower 
House  and  about  one-third  of  the  members  to  the  Reichs- 
tag, but  otherwise  have  no  part  whatever  in  the  govern- 
ment. No  Socialist  would  have  any  chance  whatever  if 
he  set  out  to  enter  the  government  service  with  the  am- 
bition of  becoming  a  district  attorney  or  judge.  Jews  have 
not  much  chance  in  the  government  service.  A  few  ex- 
ceptions have  been  made.  At  one  time  Dernburg,  who 
carried  on  the  propaganda  in  America  during  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  and  who  is  a  Jew,  was  appointed  Colonial 
Minister  of  the  Empire. 

In  my  opinion,  the  liberalisation  of  Prussia  has  been 
halted  by  the  fact  that  there  has  been  no  party  of  protest 
except  that  of  the  Socialists,  and  the  Socialists,  because 
they  have,  in  effect,  demanded  abolition  of  the  monarchy 
and  the  establishment  of  a  republic  as  part  of  their  pro- 
gramme, have  been  unable  to  do  anything  in  the  obtain- 
ing of  the  reforms. 

Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  great  dis- 
satisfaction. The  people  were  irritated  by  certain  direct 
taxes  such  as  the  tax  upon  matches,  and  because  every 
Protestant  in  Prussia  was  compelled  to  pay  a  tax  for  the 
support  of  the  church,  unless  he  made  a  declaration  that 
he  was  an  atheist. 


THE  SYSTEM  97 

The  only  class  in  Germany  which  knows  something 
of  the  outside  world  is  the  Kaiifmann  class.  Prussian 
nobles  of  the  ruling  class  are  not  travellers.  They  are 
always  busy  with  the  army  and  navy,  government  employ- 
ments or  their  estates;  and,  as  a  rule,  too  poor  to  travel. 
The  poor,  of  course,  do  not  travel,  and  the  Kaufmayin, 
although  he  learns  much  in  his  travels  in  other  countries 
to  make  him  dissatisfied  with  the  small  opportunity  which 
he  has  in  a  political  way  in  Germany,  is  satisfied  to  let 
things  stand  because  of  the  enormous  profits  which  he 
makes  through  the  low  wages  and  long  hours  of  the 
German  workingman. 

Lawyers  and  judges  amount  to  little  in  Germany  and 
we  do  not  find  there  a  class  of  political  lawy&rs  who,  in 
republics,  always  seem  to  get  the  management  of  affairs 
in  their  own  hands. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  DAYS  BEFORE  THE  WAR 

AFTER  ray  return  from  Kiel  to  Berlin  a  period  ot 
calm  ensued.  No  one  seemed  to  think  that  the 
murders  at  Sarajevo  would  have  any  effect  upon  the 
world. 

The  Emperor  had  gone  North  on  his  yacht,  but,  as  I 
believe,  not  until  a  certain  line  of  action  had  been  agreed 
upon. 

Most  of  the  diplomats  started  on  their  vacations.  Sir 
Edward  Goschen,  British  Ambassador,  as  well  as  the 
Russian  Ambassador,  left  Berlin.  This  shows,  of  course, 
how  little  war  was  expected  in  diplomatic  circles. 

I  went  on  two  visits  to  German  country-houses  in 
Silesia,  where  the  richest  estates  are  situated.  One  of 
these  visits  was  to  the  country-house  of  a  Count,  one  of  the 
wealthiest  men  in  Germany,  possessed  of  a  fortune  of 
about  twenty  to  thirty  million  dollars.  He  has  a  great 
estate  in  Silesia,  farmed,  as  I  explained,  not  by  tenant 
farmers,  but  by  his  own  superintendents.  In  the  centre 
is  a  beautiful  country  house  or  castle.  We  were  thirty- 
two  guests  in  the  house-party.  This  Count  and  his  charm- 
ing wife  had  travelled  much  and  evidently  desired  to 
model  their  country  life  on  that  of  England.  Our  amuse- 
ments were  tennis,  swimming  and  clay-pigean  shooting, 
with  dancing  and  music  at  night.  Life  such  as  this,  and 
especially,  the  lavish  entertainment  of  so  many  guests,  is 
something  very  exceptional  in  Prussian  country  life  and 
quite  a  seven  months'  wonder  for  the  country  side. 

Some  days  after  my  return  to  Berlin  the  ultimatum  of 

9» 


THE  DAYS  BEFORE    I'HE  WAR  99 

Austria  was  sent  to  Serbia.  Even  then  there  was  very 
little  excitement,  and,  when  the  Serbian  answer  was  pub- 
lished, it  was  believed  that  this  would  end  the  incident, 
and  that  matters  would  be  adjusted  by  dilatory  diplomats 
in  the  usual  way. 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  July,  matters  began  to  boil.  The 
Emperor  returned  on  this  day  and,  from  the  morning  of 
the  twenty-seventh,  took  charge.  On  the  twenty-seventh, 
also,  Sir  Edward  Goschen  returned  to  Berlin.  I  kept  in 
touch,  so  far  as  possible,  with  the  other  diplomats,  as  the 
German  officials  were  exceedingly  uncommunicative,  al- 
though I  called  on  von  Jagow  every  day  and  tried  to  get 
something  out  of  him.  On  the  night  of  the  twenty-ninth, 
von  Bethmann-HoUweg  and  Sir  Edward  had  their  mem- 
orable conversation  in  which  the  Chancellor,  while  mak- 
ing no  promises  about  the  French  colonies,  agreed,  if 
Great  Britain  remained  neutral,  to  make  "no  territorial 
aggressions  at  the  expense  of  France." 

Von  Bethmann-Hollweg  further  stated  to  Sir  Edward, 
that  ever  since  he  had  been  Chancellor  the  object  of  his 
policy  -had  been  to  bring  about  an  understanding  with 
Great  Britain  and  that  he  had  in  mind  a  general  neutrality 
agreement  between  Germany  and  Great  Britain. 

On  the  thirtieth.  Sir  Edward  Grey  refused  the  bargain 
proposed,  namely  that  Great  Britain  should  engage  to 
stand  by  while  the  French  colonies  were  taken  and  France 
beaten,  so  long  as  French  territory  was  not  taken.  Sir 
Edward  Grey  said  that  the  so-called  bargain  at  the  ex- 
pense of  France  would  constitute  a  disgrace  from  which 
the  good  name  of  Great  Britain  would  never  recover. 
He  also  refused  to  bargain  with  reference  to  the  neutrality 
of  Belgium. 

Peace  talk  continued,  however,  on  both  the  thirtieth 
and  thirty-first,  and  many  diplomats  were  still  optimistic. 
On  the  thirty-first  I  was  lunching  at  the  Hotel  Bristol  with 
Mrs.  Gerard  and  Thomas  H.  Birch,  our  minister  to  For- 


loo       MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

tugal,  and  his  wife.  I  left  the  table  and  went  over  and 
talked  to  Mouktar  Pascha,  the  Turkish  Ambassador,  who 
assured  me  that  there  was  no  danger  whatever  of  war. 
But  in  spite  of  his  assurances  and  judging  by  the  situation 
and  what  I  learned  from  other  diplomats,  I  had  cabled 
to  the  State  Department  on  the  morning  of  that  day  say- 
ing that  a  general  European  war  was  inevitable.  On  the 
thirty-first,  Kriegsgefahrzustand  or  "condition  of  danger 
of  war"  was  proclaimed  at  seven  p.  M.,  and  at  seven  P.  M. 
the  demand  was  made  by  Germany  that  Russia  should 
demobilise  within  twelve  hours.  On  the  thirtieth,  I  had 
a  talk  with  Baron  Beyens,  the  Minister  of  Belgium,  and 
Jules  Cambon,  the  French  Ambassador,  in  the  garden  of 
the  French. Embassy  in  the  afternoon.  They  both  agreed 
that  nothing  could  prevent  war  except  the  intervention  of 
America. 

Both  Ambassador  Cambon  and  Minister  Beyens  were 
very  sad  and  depressed.  After  leaving  them  I  met  Sir 
Edward  Goschen  upon  the  street  and  had  a  short  conver- 
sation with  him.    He  also  was  very  depressed. 

Acting  on  my  own  responsibility,  I  sent  the  following 
letter  to  the  Chancellor: 

"Your  Excellency: 

Is  there  nothing  that  my  country  can  do?  Nothing 
that  I  can  do  towards  stopping  this  dreadful  war? 

I  am  sure  that  the  President  would  approve  any  act  of 
mine  looking  towards  peace. 

Yours  ever, 
(Signed)     James  W.  Gerard." 

To  this  letter  I  never  had  any  reply. 

On  the  first  day  of  August  at  five  p.  m.  the  order  for 
mobilisation  was  given,  and  at  seven-ten  P.  M.  war  was 
declared  by  Germany  on  Russia,  the  Kaiser  proclaiming 
from  the  balcony  of  the  palace  that  "he  knew  no  parties 
more." 


THE  DAYS  BEFORE  THE  WAR         loi 

Of  course,  during  these  days  the  population  of  Berlin 
was  greatly  excited.  Every  night  great  crowds  of  people 
paraded  the  streets  singing  "Deutschland  Ueber  Alles" 
and  demanding  war.  Extras,  distributed  free,  were  is- 
sued at  frequent  intervals  by  the  newspapers,  and  there 
was  a  general  feeling  among  the  Germans  that  their  years 
of  preparation  would  now  bear  fruit,  that  Germany  would 
conquer  the  world  and  impose  Its  Kiiltur  upon  all  nations. 

On  the  second  of  August,  I  called  in  the  morning  to 
say  good-bye  to  the  Russian  Ambassador.  His  Embassy 
was  filled  with  unfortunate  Russians  who  had  gone  there 
to  seek  protection  and  help.  Right  and  left,  men  and 
women  were  weeping  and  the  whole  atmosphere  seemed 
that  of  despair. 

On  the  day  the  Russian  Ambassador  left,  I  sent  him 
my  automobile  to  take  him  to  the  station.  The  chauffeur 
and  footman  reported  to  me  that  the  police  protection 
was  inadequate,  that  the  automobile  w^as  nearly  over- 
turned by  the  crowd,  and  that  men  jumped  on  the  run- 
ning board  and  struck  the  Ambassador  and  the  ladies 
with  him  in  the  face  with  sticks.  His  train  was  due  to 
leave  at  one-fifteen  p.  m.  At  about  ten  minutes  of  one, 
while  I  was  standing  in  my  room  in  the  Embassy  sur- 
rounded by  a  crowd  of  Americans,  Mrs.  James,  wife  of 
the  Senator  from  Kentucky  and  Mrs.  Post  Wheeler,  wife 
of  our  Secretary  to  the  Embassy  In  Japan,  came  to  me 
and  said  that  they  were  anxious  to  get  through  to  Japan 
via  Siberia  and  did  not  know  what  to  do.  I  immediately 
scribbled  a  note  to  the  Russian  Ambassador  asking  him 
to  take  them  on  the  train  with  him.  This,  and  the  ladies, 
I  confided  to  the  care  of  a  red-headed  page  boy  of  the 
Embassy  who  spoke  German.  By  some  miracle  he  man- 
aged to  get  them  to  the  railroad  station  before  the  Am- 
bassador's train  left,  the  Ambassador  kindly  agreeing  to 
take  them  with  him.  His  train,  however,  instead  of  going 
to  Russia,  was  headed  for  Denmark;  and  from  there  the 


102        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

two  ladies  crossed  to  Sweden,  thence  to  England,  and  so 
home,  it  being  perhaps  as  well  for  them  that  they  did  not 
have  an  opportunity  to  attempt  the  Siberian  journey  dur- 
ing this  period  of  mobilisation. 

The  Russian  Ambassador  reciprocated  by  confiding  to 
me  a  Russian  Princess  who  had  intended  to  go  out  with 
him  but  who,  intimidated,  perhaps,  by  the  scenes  on  the 
way  to  the  station,  had  lost  her  nerve  at  the  railway  sta- 
tion and  refused  to  depart  with  the  Ambassador.  She 
remained  for  a  while  in  Berlin,  and  after  some  weeks  re- 
covered sufficient  courage  to  make  the  trip  to  Denmark. 

On  the  morning  of  August  fourth,  having  received  an 
invitation  the  day  before,  I  "attended"  at  the  Palace  in 
Berlin.  In  the  room  where  the  court  balls  had  been  held 
in  peace  times,  a  certain  number  of  the  members  of  the 
Reichstag  were  assembled.  The  diplomats  were  in  a 
gallery  on  the  west  side  of  the  room.  Soon  the  Emperor, 
dressed  in  field  grey  uniform  and  attended  by  several 
members  of  his  staff  and  a  number  of  ladies,  entered  the 
room.  He  walked  with  a  martial  stride  and  glanced 
toward  the  gallery  where  the  diplomats  were  assembled, 
as  if  to  see  how  many  were  there.  Taking  his  place  upon 
the  throne  and  standing,  he  read  an  address  to  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Reichstag.  The  members  cheered  him  and 
then  adjourned  to  the  Reichstag  where  the  Chancellor 
addressed  them,  making  his  famous  declaration  about 
Belgium,  stating  that  "necessity  knew  no  law,"  and  that 
the  German  troops  were  perhaps  at  that  moment  crossing 
the  Belgian  frontier.  Certain  laws  which  had  been  pre- 
pared with  reference  to  the  government  of  the  country, 
and  which  I  will  give  in  more  detail  in  another  place,  as 
well  as  the  war  credit,  were  voted  upon  by  the  Reichstag. 
The  Socialists  had  not  been  present  in  the  Palace,  but 
joined  now  in  voting  the  necessary  credits. 

On  the  afternoon  of  August  fourth,  I  went  to  see  von 
Jagow  to  try  and  pick  up  any  news.     The  British  Ambas- 


THE  DAYS  BKFORr:    IHI",  WAR         103 

sador  sat  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  Foreign  Office.  Sir 
Kdward  told  me  that  he  was  there  for  the  purpose  of 
asking  for  his  passports.  He  spoke  in  English,  of 
course,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  was  overheard  by  a  man 
sitting  in  the  room  who  looked  to  me  like  a  German  news- 
paper man,  so  that  I  was  not  surprised  when,  late  in  the 
afternoon,  extra  sheets  appeared  upon  the  street  an- 
nouncing that  the  British  Ambassador  had  asJ<:ed  for  his 
passports  and  that  Great  Britain  had  declared  war. 

At  this  news  the  rage  of  the  population  of  Berlin  was 
indescribable.  The  Foreign  Office  had  believed,  and 
this  belief  had  percolated  through  all  classes  in  the  cap- 
ital, that  the  British  were  so  occupied  with  the  Ulster  re- 
bellion and  unrest  in  Ireland  that  they  would  not  declare 
war. 

After  dinner  I  went  to  the  station  to  say  good-bye  to 
the  French  Ambassador,  Jules  Cambon.  The  route  from 
the  French  Embassy  by  the  Branderburg  Thor  to  the 
Lehrter  railway  station  was  lined  with  troops  and  police, 
so  that  no  accident  whatever  occurred.  There  was  no 
one  at  the  station  except  a  very  inferior  official  from  the 
German  Foreign  Office.  Cambon  was  in  excellent  spir- 
its and  kept  his  nerve  and  composure  admirably.  His 
family,  luckily,  were  not  in  Berlin  at  the  time  of  the  out- 
break of  the  war.  Cambon  instead  of  being  sent  out  by 
way  of  Switzerland,  whence  of  course  the  road  to  France 
was  easy,  was  sent  North  to  Denmark.  He  was  very 
badly  treated  on  the  train,  and  payment  for  the  special 
train,  in  gold,  was  exacted  from  him  by  the  German  gov- 
ernment. 

Then  I  went  for  a  walk  about  Berlin,  soon  becoming 
involved  in  the  great  crowd  in  front  of  the  British  Em- 
bassy on  the  Wilhclm  Strasse.  The  crowd  threw  stones, 
etc.,  and  managed  to  break  all  the  windows  of  the  Em- 
bassy. The  Germans  charged  afterwards  that  p>eople  in 
the  Embassy  had  infuriated  the  crowd  by  throwing  pen- 


I04        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

nies  to  them.  I  did  not  see  any  occurrences  of  this  kind. 
As  the  Unter  den  Linden  and  the  Wilhelm  Platz  are 
paved  with  asphalt  the  crowd  must  have  brought  with 
them  the  missiles  which  they  used,  with  the  premeditated 
design  of  smashing  the  Embassy  windows.  A  few 
mounted  police  made  their  appearance  but  were  at  no 
time  in  sufficient  numbers  to  hold  the  crowd  in  check. 

Afterwards  I  went  around  to  the  Unter  den  Linden 
where  there  was  a  great  crowd  in  front  of  the  Hotel  Ad- 
lon.  A  man  standing  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd 
begged  me  not  to  go  into  the  hotel,  as  he  said  the  people 
were  looking  for  British  newspaper  correspondents. 

So  threatening  was  the  crowd  towards  the  British  cor- 
respondents that  Wile  rang  up  the  porter  of  the  Em- 
bassy after  we  had  gone  to  bed  and,  not  wishing  to  dis- 
turb us,  he  occupied  the  lounge  in  the  porter's  rooms. 

Believing  that  possibly  the  British  Embassy  might  be 
in  such  a  condition  that  Sir  Edward  Goschen,  the  British 
Ambassador,  might  not  care  to  spend  the  night  there,  I 
ordered  an  automobile  and  went  up  through  the  crowd 
which  still  choked  the  Wilhelm  Strasse,  with  Roland  Har- 
vey, the  Second  Secretary,  to  the  British  Embassy,  Sir 
Edward  and  his  secretaries  v/ere  perfectly  calm  and  po- 
litely declined  the  refuge  which  I  offered  them  in  our  Em- 
bassy. I  chatted  with  them  for  a  while,  and,  as  I  was 
starting  to  leave,  a  servant  told  me  that  the  crowds  in 
the  street  had  greatly  increased  and  were  watching  my  au- 
tomobile. I  sent  out  word  by  the  servant  to  open  the 
automobile,  as  it  was  a  landau,  and  to  tell  the  chauffeur, 
when  I  got  in,  to  drive  very  slowly. 

I  drove  slowly  through  the  crowd,  assailed  only  by  the 
peculiar  hissing  word  that  the  Germans  use  when  they 
are  especially  angry  and  which  is  supposed  to  convey  the 
utmost  contempt.  This  word  is  "Pfui"  and  has  a  pe- 
culiar effect  when  hissed  out  from  thousands  of  Teutonic 
throats. 


THE  DAYS  BEFORE  THE  WAR         105 

As  we  left  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  a  man  of  re- 
spectable appearance  jumped  on  the  running  board  of  the 
automobile,  spit  at  me,  saying  "Pfui,"  and  struck  Harvey 
in  the  face  with  his  hat.  I  stopped  the  automobile, 
jumped  out  and  chased  this  man  down  the  street  and 
caught  him.  My  German  footman  came  running  up  and 
explained  that  I  was  the  American  Ambassador  and  not 
an  Englishman.  The  man  who  struck  Harvey  thereupon 
apologised  and  gave  his  card.  He  was  a  Berlin  lawyer 
who  came  to  the  Embassy  next  morning  and  apologised 
again  for  his  "mistake." 

The  following  day,  August  fifth,  I  spent  part  of  the 
time  taking  over  from  Sir  Edward  the  British  interests. 
Joseph  C.  Grew,  our  First  Secretary,  and  I  went  to  the 
British  Embassy;  seals  were  placed  upon  the  archives, 
and  we  received  such  instructions  and  information  as  could 
be  given  us,  with  reference  to  the  British  subjects  in  Ger- 
many and  their  interests.  The  British  correspondents 
were  collected  in  the  Embassy  and  permission  was  ob- 
tained for  them  to  leave  on  the  Embassy  train. 

During  the  day  British  subjects,  without  distinction  as 
to  age  or  sex,  were  seized,  wherever  found,  and  sent  to 
the  fortress  of  Spandau.  I  remonstrated  with  von 
Jagow  and  told  him  that  that  was  a  measure  taken  only 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  I  believe  that  he  remonstrated 
with  the  authorities  and  arranged  for  a  cessation  of  the 
arbitrary  arrests  of  women. 

Frederick  W.  Wile,  the  well-known  American  cor- 
respondent of  the  London  Daily  Mail,  was  to  go  out  also 
with  the  British  party,  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  a 
correspondent  of  a  British  newspaper.  In  the  evening  I 
went  to  the  Foreign  OfHce  to  get  his  passport,  and,  while 
one  of  the  department  chiefs  was  signing  the  passport,  he 
stopped  in  the  middle  of  his  signature,  threw  down  the 
pen  on  the  table,  and  said  he  absolutely  refused  to  sign  a 
passport  for  Wile  because  he  hated  him  so  and  because  he 


io6        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

believed  be  had  been  largely  instrumental  in  the  bringing 
about  of  the  war.  Of  course  this  latter  statement  was 
quite  ridiculous,  but  it  took  me  some  time  before  I  could 
persuade  this  German  official  to  calm  his  hate  and  com- 
plete his  signature. 

I  have  heard  a  few  people  say  that  Wile  was  unduly 
fearful  of  what  the  Germans  might  do  to  him,  but  the 
foregoing  incident  shows  that  his  fears  were  well 
grounded,  and  knowing  of  this  incident,  which  I  did  not 
tell  him,  I  was  very  glad  to  have  him  accept  the  hospital- 
ity of  the  Embassy  for  the  night  preceding  his  departure. 
He  was  perfectly  cool,  although  naturally  much  pleased 
when  I  informed  him  that  his  departure  had  been  ar- 
ranged. 

Sir  Edward  and  his  staff  and  the  British  correspondents 
left  next  morning  early,  about  six  A.  M.  No  untoward 
incidents  occurred  at  the  time  of  their  departure  which 
was,  of  course,  unknown  to  the  populace  of  Berlin. 

During  these  first  days  there  was  a  great  spy  excite- 
ment in  Germany.  People  were  seized  by  the  crowds  in 
the  streets  and,  in  some  instances,  on  the  theory  that  they 
were  French  or  Russian  spies,  were  shot.  Foreigners 
were  in  a  very  dangerous  situation  throughout  Germany, 
and  many  Americans  were  subjected  to  arrest  and  in- 
dignities. 

A  curious  rumour  spread  all  over  Germany  to  the  ef- 
fect that  automobiles  loaded  with  French  gold  were  be- 
ing rushed  across  the  country  to  Russia.  Peasants  and 
gamekeepers  and  others  turned  out  on  the  roads  with 
guns,  and  travelling  by  automobile  became  exceedingly 
dangerous.  A  German  Countess  was  shot,  an  officer 
wounded  and  the  Duchess  of  Ratibor  was  shot  in  the  arm. 
It  was  some  time  before  this  excitement  was  allayed,  and 
many  notices  were  published  in  the  newspapers  before 
this  mania  was  driven  from  the  popular  brain. 

There  were  rumours  also  that  Russians  had  poisoned 


THE  DAYS  BEFORE  THE  WAR  iuy 

the  Muggelsee,  the  lake  from  whence  Berlin  draws  part 
of  its  water  supply.  There  were  constant  rumours  of 
the  arrest  of  Russian  spies  disguised  as  women  through- 
out Germany. 

Many  Americans  were  detained  under  a  sort  of  arrest 
in  their  hotels;  among  these  were  Archer  Huntin^on  and 
his  wife;  Ckarles  H.  Sherrill,  formerly  our  minister  to 
the  Argentine  and  many  others. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  AMERICANS  AT  THE  OUTBREAK  OF  HOSTILITIES 

OF  course,  as  soon  as  there  was  a  prospect  of  war, 
the  Embassy  was  overrun  with  Americans.  Few 
Americans  had  taken  the  precaution  of  travelling  with 
passports,  and  passports  had  become  a  necessity.  All  of 
the  Embassy  force  and  all  the  volunteers  that  I  could 
prevail  upon  to  serve,  even  a  child  of  eleven  years  old, 
who  was  stopping  in  the  house  with  us,  were  taking  ap- 
plications of  the  Americans  who  literally  in  thousands 
crowded  the  Wilhelm  Platz  in  front  of  the  Embassy. 

The  question  of  money  became  acute.  Travellers 
who  had  letters  of  credit  and  bank  checks  for  large  sums 
could  not  get  a  cent  of  money  in  Germany.  The  Amer- 
ican Express  Company,  I  believe,  paid  all  holders  of  its 
checks.  When,  with  Mr.  Wolf,  President  of  the  Amer- 
ican Association  of  Commerce  and  Trade  in  Berlin,  I 
called  upon  the  director  of  the  Imperial  Bank  and  begged 
him  to  arrange  something  for  the  relief  of  American 
travellers  in  Germany,  he  refused  to  do  anything;  and  I 
then  suggested  to  him  that  he  might  give  paper  money, 
which  they  were  then  printing  in  Germany,  to  the  Amer- 
icans for  good  American  credits  such  as  letters  of  credit 
and  bank  checks,  and  that  Lhey  would  then  have  a  credit 
in  America  which  might  become  very  valuable  in  the  fu- 
ture. He,  however,  refused  to  see  this.  Director  Her- 
bert Gutmann  of  the  Dresdener  Bank  was  the  far-seeing 
banker  who  relieved  the  situation.  Gutmann  arranged 
with  me  that  the  Dresdener  Bank,  the  second  largest  bank 
in  Germany,  would  cash  the  bank  checks,  letters  of  credit 

io8 


fkOWDS    IX    FKOXT   CF    THE    K.MDASSV    AWAITING    liLI.LETI.N  S. 
AUGUST,    I914 


THE   AMKRICAX    EMBASSY   WAS   THE  CENTRE  OF   INTEREST   TO    MANY 
IN    TH'rSE    EARLY    PAYS   OF   THE    WAR 


WORKING   IN   THE   EMBASSY  BALLROOM    AT  THE  OUTBREAK 
OF   HOSTILITIES,  AUGUST,    I914 


WAR  DAYS   IN    BERLIN.      AMBASSADOR   GERARD   AND    HIS    STAFF. 


AMERICANS  AT  THE  OUTBREAK       109 

and  the  American  Express  Company's  drafts  and  inter- 
national business  checks,  etc.,  of  Americans  for  re-ason- 
able  amounts,  provided  the  Embassy  seal  was  put  on  the 
letter  of  credit  or  check  to  show  that  the  holder  was  an 
American,  and,  outside  of  Berlin,  the  seal  of  the  Amer- 
ican Consulate.     This  immediately  relieved  the  situation. 

With  the  exception  of  Mr.  Wolf  who  was,  however, 
quite  busy  with  his  own  affairs,  I  had  no  American  Com- 
mittees such  as  were  organised  in  London  and  Paris  to 
help  me  in  Berlin.  In  Munich,  however,  the  Americans 
there  organised  themselves  into  an  efficient  committee. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  Pulitzer  were  in  Berlin  and  im- 
mediately went  to  work  in  our  Embassy.  Mr.  Pulitzer 
busied  himself  at  giving  out  passports  and  Mrs.  Pulitzer 
proved  herself  a  very  efficient  worker.  She  and  Mrs. 
Ruddock,  wife  of  our  Third  Secretary,  and  Mrs.  Gher- 
hardi,  wife  of  the  Naval  Attache,  with  Mrs.  Gerard 
formed  a  sort  of  relief  committee  to  look  after  the  Amer- 
icans who  were  without  help  or  resources. 

I  arranged,  with  the  very  efficient  help  of  Lanier  Win- 
slow,  for  special  trains  to  carry  the  Americans  in  Ger- 
many to  Holland.  Trains  were  run  from  Switzerland, 
Munich  and  Carlsbad  across  Germany  to  Holland,  and 
from  Berlin  were  run  a  number  of  trains  to  Holland. 

The  first  room  on  entering  the  Embassy  was  the  ticket- 
office,  and  there,  first  Mr.  Winslow,  and  afterwards  Cap- 
tain Fenton,  sold  tickets,  giving  tickets  free  to  those  who 
were  certified  to  be  without  funds  by  the  committee  of 
Mrs.  Pulitzer  and  Mrs.  Gerard.  This  committee 
worked  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Embassy  in  the  ball- 
room, part  of  it  being  roped  off  to  keep  the  crowds  back 
from  the  ladies. 

Each  week  I  bought  a  number  of  steerage  passages 
from  the  Holland  American  Line  and  the  ladies  resold 
them  in  the  ballroom.  We  had  to  do  this  because  the 
Holland  American  Line  had  no  licence  to  sell  steerage 


no   MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

tickets  in  Germany;  but  by  buying  two  or  three  hundred 
at  a  time  direct  from  the  Company,  I  was  enabled  to  ped- 
dle them  out  in  our  ballroom  to  those  Americans  who,  in 
their  eagerness  to  reach  their  own  country,  were  willing 
to  endure  the  discomforts  of  travel  in  the  steerage. 

Winslow  accompanied  one  special  train  to  Holland, 
and  I  must  say  that  I  sympathised  with  him  when  I  learned 
of  what  he  had  to  do  in  the  way  of  chasing  lost  hand- 
baggage  and  finding  milk  for  crying  babies. 

These  special  trains  were  started  from  the  Charlotten- 
burg  station,  in  a  quiet  part  of  Berlin  so  that  no  crowd 
was  attracted  by  the  departure  of  the  Americans.  The 
Carlsbad  train  went  through  very  successfully,  taking  the 
Americans  who  had  been  shut  up  in  Carlsbad  since  the 
commencement  of  the  war. 

One  of  the  curious  developments  of  this  time  was  a 
meeting  of  sympathy  for  the  Americans  stranded  in  Ger- 
many, held  in  the  town  hall  of  Berlin  on  the  eleventh  of 
August.  This  meeting  was  commenced  in  one  of  the 
meeting  rooms  of  the  town  hall,  but  so  many  people  at- 
tended that  we  were  compelled  to  adjourn  to  the  great 
hall.  There  speeches  were  made  by  the  over-Burgomas- 
ter, von  Gwinner,  Professor  von  Hamack  and  me.  An- 
other professor,  who  spoke  excellent  English,  with  an 
English  accent,  made  a  bitter  attack  upon  Great  Britain. 
In  the  pamphlet  in  which  the  speeches  of  Harnack  and 
the  over-Burgomaster  were  published  this  professor's 
speech  was  left  out.  In  his  speech  stating  the  object  of 
the  meeting,  the  over-Burgomaster  said:  "Since  we  hear 
that  a  large  number  of  American  citizens  in  the  German 
Empire,  and,  especixilly,  in  Berlin,  find  themselves  in  em- 
barrassments due  to  the  shutting  off  of  means  of  return 
to  their  own  country,  we  here  solemnly  declare  it  to  be 
our  duty  to  care  for  them  as  brethren  to  the  limit  of  our 
ability,  and  we  appeal  to  all  citizens  of  Berlin  and  the 


AMERICANS  AT  THE  OUTBREAK       1 1 1 

whole  of  the  German  Empire  to  co-operate  with  us  to 
this  end." 

Professor  von  Harnack,  head  of  the  Royal  Library  in 
Berlin,  is  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  German  prafessors. 
In  his  speech  he  gave  expression  to  the  feeling  that  was 
prevalent  in  the  first  days  of  the  war  that  Gennany  was 
defending  itself  against  a  Russian  invasion  which  threat- 
ened to  blot  out  the  German  Kiiltur.  He  said,  after  re- 
ferring to  Western  civilisation:  "But  in  the  face  of  this 
civilisation,  there  arises  now  before  my  eyes  another  civ- 
ilisation, the  civilisation  of  the  tribe,  with  its  patriarchal 
organisation,  the  civilisation  of  the  horde  that  is  gath- 
ered and  kept  together  by  despots, — the  Mongolian 
Muscovite  civilisation.  This  civilisation  could  not  endure 
the  light  of  the  eighteenth  century,  still  less  the  li-ght  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  and  now  in  the  twentieth  century 
it  breaks  loose  and  threatens  us.  This  unorganised  Asi- 
atic mass,  like  the  desert  with  its  sands,  wants  to  gather 
up  our  fields  of  grain." 

Nothing  was  done  for  the  Americans  stranded  in  Ger- 
many by  the  Germans  with  the  exception  of  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  payment  of  funds  by  the  Dresdener  Bank 
on  the  letters  of  credit  and  the  dispatching  of  special 
trains  by  the  railroad  department  of  the  German  govern- 
ment. As  a  matter  of  fact,  nothing  more  could  have  been 
required  of  the  Germans,  as  it  was  naturally  the  duty 
of  the  x^merican  government  to  take  care  of  its  citizens 
stranded  abroad. 

Almost  the  instant  that  war  was  declared,  I  cabled  to 
our  government  suggesting  that  a  ship  should  be  sent  over 
with  gold  because,  of  course,  with  gold,  no  matter  what 
the  country,  necessaries  can  always  be  bought.  Rumours 
of  the  dispatch  of  the  Tennessee  and  other  ships  from 
America,  reached  Berlin  and  a  great  number  of  the  more 
ignorant  of  the  Americans  got  to  believe  that  these  ships 
were  being  sent  over  to  take  Americans  home. 


112        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

One  morning  an  American  woman  spoke  to  me  and 
said  she  would  consent  to  go  home  on  one  of  these  ships 
provided  she  was  given  a  state-room  with  a  bath  and 
Walker-Gordon  milk  for  her  children,  while  another 
woman  of  German  extraction  used  to  sit  for  hours  in  a 
corner  of  the  ballroom,  occasionally  exclaiming  aloud 
with  much  feeling,  "O  God,  will  them  ships  never  come?" 

In  these  first  days  of  the  war  we  also  made  a  card 
index  of  all  the  Americans  in  Berlin,  and,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, in  Germany;  in  order  to  weed  out  those  who  had 
received  the  passports  in  the  first  days  when  possibly 
some  people  not  entitled  to  them  received  them,  and  to 
find  the  deserving  cases.  All  Americans  were  required  to 
present  themselves  at  the  Embassy  and  answer  a  few 
questions,  after  which,  if  everything  seemed  all  right, 
their  passports  were  marked  "recommended  for  trans- 
portation to  America," 

I  sent  out  circulars  from  time  to  time  to  the  consuls 
throughout  Germany  giving  general  instructions  with 
regard  to  the  treatment  of  Americans.  The  following 
circular  sent  out  on  August  twelfth  is  a  sample : 

"American  Embassy, 

Berlin,  August  12,  1914. 
"To  the  Consular  Representatives 

of  the    United  States  in   Germany, 

and  for  the  general  information  of 
American  Citizens. 
"A  communication  will  to-morrow  be  published  in  the 
Berlin  Lokal  Anzeiger  regarding  the  sending  of  a  special 
train  to  the  Dutch  frontier  for  the  special  con- 
veyance of  Americans.  Other  trains  will  probably  be 
arranged  for  from  time  to  time.  No  further  news  has 
been  received  regarding  the  sending  of  transports  from 
the  United  States,  but  applications  for  repatriation  are 
being  considered  by  the  Embassy  and  the  various  consular 


AMERICANS  AT  THE  OUTBREAK       113 

offices  throughout  Germany  according  to  the  Embassy's 
last  circular  and  the  announcements  published  in  the  Lo- 
kal  Anzeiger. 

*'AI1  Americans  leaving  Berlin  must  have  their  pass- 
ports stamped  by  the  Foreign  Office,  for  which  purpose 
they  should  apply  to  Geheimer  Legationsrat  Dr.  Eck- 
hardt  at  Wilhelmstrasse  76.  Americans  residing  outside 
of  Berlin  should  ascertain  from  their  respective  consular 
representatives  what  steps  they  should  take  in  this  regard. 

"Letters  for  the  United  States  may  be  sent  to  the  Em- 
bassy and  will  be  forwarded  at  the  first  opportunity. 

"German  subjects  who  desire  to  communicate  with 
friends  in  Great  Britain,  Russia,  France  or  Belgium,  or 
who  desire  to  send  money,  should  make  their  requests  to 
the  Imperial  Foreign  Office.  Americans  are  permitted  to 
enter  Italy.  The  steamers  of  the  Italian  lines  are  run- 
ning at  present,  but  are  full  for  some  time  in  advance. 
The  Embassy  is  also  informed  that  the  steamer  from 
Vlissingen,  Holland,  runs  daily  at  1 1  A  M.  The  Ambas- 
sador cannot,  however,  recommend  Americans  to  try 
to  reach  Holland  by  the  ordinary  schedule  trains,  as  he  has 
received  reports  of  delays  en  route,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
all  civil  travellers  are  ejected  from  trains  when  troops 
require  accommodations.  It  is  better  to  wait  for  special 
trains  arranged  for  by  the  Embassy. 

"The  Dresdener  Bank  and  its  branches  throughout 
Germany  will  cash  for  Americans  only  letters  of  credit 
and  checks  issued  by  good  American  banks  in  limited 
amounts.  Included  in  this  category  are  the  checks  of  the 
Bankers'  Association,  Bankers'  Trust  Company,  Inter- 
national Mercantile  Marine  Company,  and  American 
Express  Company.  All  checks  and  letters  of  credit  must, 
however,  be  stamped  by  American  consuls,  and  consuls 
must  see  that  the  consular  stamp  is  affixed  to  those  checks 
and  letters  of  credit  only  as  are  the  bona  fide  property 
of  American  citizens.     The  Commerz  &  Disconto  Bank 


114        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

makes  the  same  offer  and  the  Deutsche  Bank  will  cash 
checks  a»d  letters  of  credit  drawn  by  its  correspondents. 
"American  consular  officers  may  also  draw  later  on  the 
Dresdener  Bank  for  their  salaries  and  the  official  ex- 
penses ef  their  consulates.  Before  drawing  such  funds 
from  the  bank,  however,  all  consular  officers  should 
submit  their  expense  accounts  to  me  for  approval.  These 
expense  accounts  should  be  transmitted  to  the  Embassy 
at  the  earliest  opportunity. 

"The  Ambassador." 

It  will  be  noticed  from  the  above  circular  that  all 
Americans  were  required  to  have  their  passports  stamped 
at  the  Foreign  Office.  One  American  did  not  receive  back 
his  passport,  although  he  had  left  it  at  the  F'oreign  Of- 
fice. The  Foreign  Office  claimed  that  it  had  deliv- 
ered the  passport  to  some  one  from  the  Embassy,  but  we 
were  not  very  much  surprised  when  this  identical  pass- 
port turned  up  later  in  the  possession  of  Lodi,  the  con- 
fessed German  spy,  who  was  shot  in  the  Tower  of 
London. 

After  a  time  the  American  Government  cabled  me  to 
advance  money  to  destitute  Americans;  and  the  ladies 
in  the  ballroom,  with  their  assistants,  attended  to  this 
branch,  advancing  money  where  needed  or  so  much  as  a 
person  needed  to  make  up  the  balance  of  passage  on 
steerage  tickets  from  Holland  to  the  United  States.  At 
the  same  time  we  gradually  built  up  a  banking  system. 
Those  in  the  United  States  who  had  friends  or  relatives 
in  Germany  sent  them  money  by  giving  the  money  to  our 
State  Department,  and  the  State  Department  in  turn 
cabled  me  to  make  a  payment.  This  payment  was  made 
by  my  drawing  a  draft  for  the  amount  stated  on  the  State 
Department,  the  recipient  selling  this  draft  at  a  fixed  rate 
to  the  Deutsche  Bank  in  Berlin.  This  business  assumed 
great  proportions,  and  after  the  Americans  who  were  in 


AMERICANS  AT  THE  OUTBREAK       115 

a  hurry  to  go  home  had  disappeared,  the  ones  remaining 
were  kept  in  funds  by  their  friends  and  relatives  through 
this  sort  of  bank  under  our  management. 

On  August  twenty-third,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War 
Breckenridge,  who  had  come  from  America  on  the 
warship  Tennessee,  bringing  gold  with  him,  and  a  certain 
number  of  army  officers,  arrived  in  Berlin  and  took  over 
our  relief  organisation  in  so  far  as  it  applied  to  the  re- 
patriation of  i\mericans,  housing  it  in  rooms  hired  in  a 
nearby  hotel,  the  Kaiserhoff.  This  commission  was  com- 
posed of  Majors  J.  A.  Ryan,  J.  H.  Ford  and  G.  W. 
Martin  and  Captains  Miller  and  Fenton,  but  the  relief 
committee  and  the  banking  office  were  still  continued  in 
the  Embassy  ballroom. 

A  bulletin  was  published  under  the  auspicevs  of  the 
American  Association  of  Commerce  and  Trade  and  the 
advice  there  given  was  that  all  Americans  having  the 
means  to  leave  should  do  so  when  the  opportunity  for 
leaving  by  special  trains  was  presented,  and  proceed  direct 
to  London  whence  they  could  obtain  transportation  to 
the  United  States.  All  Americans  without  means  were 
directed  to  apply  to  the  relief  commission  which  was  au- 
thorized to  pay  for  the  transportation  and  subsistence  of 
stranded  Americans  in  order  to  enable  them  to  return 
home. 

The  enormous  quantity  of  baggage  left  behind  by 
Americans  in  Germany  was  a  problem  requiring  solution. 

In  spite  of  repeated  advice  to  leave,  many  Americans 
insisted  on  remaining  in  Germany.  Few  of  them  were 
business  people;  there  were  many  song-birds,  piano 
players,  and  students.  We  had  much  trouble  with  these 
belated  Americans.  For  example,  one  woman  and  her 
daughter  refused  to  leave  when  advised,  but  stayed  on 
and  ran  up  bills  for  over  ten  thousand  marks;  and  as 
arrest  for  debt  exists  in  Germany,  they  could  not  leave 


ii6        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

when  they  finally  decided  to  go.  All  of  us  In  the  Embassy 
had  to  subscribe  the  money  necessary  to  pay  their  most 
pressing  debts  and  they  finally  left  the  country,  leaving 
an  added  prejudice  against  Americans. 


CHAPTER  X 

PRISONERS    OF    WAR 

DURING  the  period  of  the  first  months  of  the  war, 
in  addition  to  other  work,  it  became  necessary  to 
look  after  those  subjects  of  other  nations  who  had  been 
confided  to  my  care. 

At  first  the  British  were  allowed  considerable  liberty, 
although  none  were  permitted  to  leave  the  country.  They 
were  required  to  report  to  the  police  at  stated  times  dur- 
ing the  day  and  could  not  remain  out  late  at  night. 

The  Japanese  had  received  warning  from  their  Em- 
bassy as  to  the  turn  that  events  might  take  and,  before 
sending  its  ultimatum,  the  Japanese  government  had 
warned  its  citizens,  so  that  a  great  number  of  them  had 
left  Germany.  After  the  declaration  of  war  by  Japan, 
all  the  Japanese  in  Germany  were  immediately  impris- 
oned. This  was  stated  to  be  in  order  to  save  them  from 
the  fury  of  the  population  and  certainly  the  people  seemed 
to  be  greatly  incensed  against  the  Japanese.  When  I 
finally  obtained  permission  for  their  release  and  depar- 
ture from  Germany  I  had  to  send  some  one  with  the 
parties  of  Japanese  to  the  Swiss  frontier  in  order  to  pro- 
tect them  from  injury.  I'hey  were  permitted  to  leave 
only  through  Switzerland  and,  therefore,  had  to  change 
cars  at  Munich.  Before  sending  any  of  them  to  Munich 
I  invariably  telegraphed  our  Consul  there  to  notify  the 
Munich  police  so  that  proper  protection  could  be  provided 
at  the  railway  station. 

On  one  occasion  a  number  of  Japanese  were  waiting  in 
the, Embassy  in  order  to  take  the  night  train  for  Munich. 

117 


ii8        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

I  sent  a  servant  to  take  them  out  in  order  that  they  might 
get  something  to  eat  in  a  restaurant,  but  as  no  restaurant 
in  Berlin  would  sell  them  food,  arrangements  were  made 
to  give  them  meals  in  the  Embassy. 

The  members  of  the  Siamese  Legation,  who  in  appear- 
ance greatly  resemble  the  Japanese,  were  often  subjected 
to  indignities,  and  for  a  long  time  did  not  dare  move 
about  freely  in  Berlin,  or  even  leave  their  houses. 

The  Japanese  were  marvels  of  courtesy.  After  I  vis- 
ited some  of  them  at  the  civilian  camp  of  Ruhleben,  they 
wrote  me  a  letter  thanking  me  for  the  visit.  Nearly  every 
Japanese  leaving  Germany  on  his  arrival  in  Switzerland 
wrote  me  a  grateful  letter. 

When  I  finally  left  Germany,  as  I  stepped  from  the 
special  train  at  Zurich,  a  Japanese  woman,  who  had 
been  imprisoned  in  Germany  and  whose  husband  I  had 
visited  in  a  prison,  came  forward  to  thank  me.  A  Japa- 
nese man  was  waiting  In  the  hotel  office  in  Berne  when  I 
arrived  there,  for  a  similar  purpose,  and  the  next  morning 
early  the  Japanese  Minister  called  and  left  a  beautiful 
clock  for  Mrs.  Gerard  as  an  expression  of  his  gratitude 
far  the  attention  shown  to  his  countrymen.  It  was  really 
a  pleasure  to  be  able  to  do  something  for  these  polite  and 
charming  people. 

On  August  twentieth  I  paid  my  first  visit  to  a  German 
prison  camp.  This  was  to  the  camp  at  Doeberitz  situ- 
ated about  eight  miles  west  of  Berlin,  a  sort  of  military 
camp  with  permanent  barracks.  Some  of  these  barracks 
were  used  for  the  confinement  of  such  British  civilians  as 
the  Germans  had  arrested  in  the  first  days  of  the  war. 
There  were  only  a  few  British  among  the  prisoners,  with 
a  number  of  Russian  and  French.  I  was  allowed  to  con- 
verse freely  with  the  prisoners  and  found  that  they  had 
no  complaints.  As  the  war  went  on,  however,  a  number 
of  British  prisoners  of  war  were  taken  by  the  Germans 
during  the  course  of  the  great  retreat  of  the  British  in 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  119 

Northern  France.  Then  officers  and  privates  began  to 
come  into  Germany  and  were  distributed  in  various  camps. 
Finally,  in  the  autumn  of  19 14,  the  British  Government 
decided  on  interning  a  great  number  of  Germans  in  Great 
Britain;  and  the  German  government  immediately,  and  as 
a  reprisal,  interned  all  the  British  civilian  men  who,  up 
to  this  time,  had  enjoyed  compaiative  freedom  in  Berlin 
and  other  cities  of  the  Empire.  The  British  civilians 
were  shut  up  in  a  race  track  about  five  miles  from  the 
centre  of  Berlin,  called  Ruhleben.  This  race  track,  in 
peace  times  was  used  for  contests  of  trotting  horses  and 
on  it  were  the  usual  grandstands  and  brick  stable  build- 
ings containing  box  stalls  with  hay  lofts  above,  where  the 
race  horses  were  kept. 

On  August  twentieth  I  paid  my  first  visit  to  the  police 
presidency  in  Berlin  where  political  prisoners,  when  ar- 
rested, were  confined.  A  small  number  of  British  pris- 
oners subject  to  especial  investigation  were  there  interned. 
This  prison,  which  I  often  subsequently  visited,  was  clean 
and  well  kept,  and  I  never  had  any  particular  complaints 
from  the  prisoners  confined  there,  except,  of  course,  as 
the  war  progressed,  concerning  the  inadequacy  of  the 
food. 

I  had  organised  a  special  department  immediately  on 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  to  care  for  the  interests  of 
the  British.  At  first  Mr.  Boylston  Bcal,  a  lawyer  of 
Boston,  assisted  by  Mr.  Rivington  Pyne  of  New  York, 
was  at  the  head  of  this  department,  of  which  later  the 
Honourable  John  B.  Jackson,  rormerly  our  Minister  to 
the  Balkan  States,  Greece  and  Cuba,  took  charge.  He 
volunteered  to  give  his  assistance  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war  and  I  was  glad  of  his  help,  especially  as  he  had 
been  twelve  years  secretary  in  the  Berlin  Embassy  and, 
therefore,  was  well  acquainted  not  only  with  Germany 
but  with  German  official  life  and  customs.  Mr.  Jackson 
was  most  ably  assisted  by  Charles  H.  Russell,  Jr.,  of  New 


I20        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

York,  and  Lithgow  Osborne.     Of  course,  others  in  the 
Embassy  had  much  to  do  with  this  department. 

The  first  privates,  prisoners  of  war,  came  to  the  camp 
of  Doeberitz  near  Berlin.  Early  in  the  war  Mr.  Grew, 
our  First  Secretary,  and  Consul  General  Lay  visited  the 
camp  for  officers  at  Torgau.  The  question  of  the  in- 
spection of  prisoners  of  the  camps  and  the  rights  of  Am- 
bassadors charged  with  the  interests  of  hostile  powers 
was  quite  in  the  clouds.  So  many  reports  came  to  Ger- 
many about  the  bad  treatment  in  England  of  German 
prisoners  of  war  that  I  finally  arranged  to  have  Mr. 
Jackson  visit  them  and  report.  This  was  arranged  by 
my  colleague,  our  Ambassador  to  Great  Britain,  and  in 
the  first  winter  Mr.  Jackson  made  his  trip  there.  His 
report  of  conditions  there  did  much  to  allay  the  German 
belief  as  to  the  ill-treatment  of  their  subjects  who  were 
prisoners  in  Great  Britain  and  helped  me  greatly  in  bring- 
ing about  better  conditions  in  Germany.  After  vainly 
endeavouring  to  get  the  German  government  to  agree 
to  some  definite  plan  for  the  inspection  of  the  prisoners, 
after  my  notes  to  the  Foreign  Office  had  remained  un- 
answered for  a  long  period  of  time,  and  after  sending  a 
personal  letter  to  von  Jagow  calling  his  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  delay  was  injuring  German  prisoners  in 
other  countries,  I  finally  called  on  von  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg  and  told  him  that  my  notes  concerning  prisoners  were 
sent  by  the  Foreign  Office  to  the  military  authorities :  that, 
while  I  could  talk  with  officials  of  the  Foreign  Office,  I 
never  came  into  contact  with  the  people  who  really  passed 
upon  the  notes  sent  by  me,  and  who  made  the  decisions 
as  to  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of  war  and  inspection  of 
their  camps;  and  I  begged  the  Chancellor  to  break  down 
diplomatic  precedent  and  allow  me  to  speak  with  the  mili- 
tary authorities  who  decided  these  questions.  I  said,  "If 
I  cannot  get  an  answer  to  my  proposition  about  prisoners, 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  121 

I  will  take  a  chair  and  sit  in  front  of  your  palace  in  the 
street  until  1  receive  an  answer." 

The  result  was  a  meeting  in  my  office. 
I  discussed  the  question  involved  with  two  representa- 
tives from  the  Foreign  Office,  two  from  the  General 
Staff,  two  from  the  War  Department  and  with  Count 
Schwerin  who  commanded  the  civilian  camp  at  the  Ruhle- 
ben  race  track.  In  twenty  minutes  we  managed  to  reach 
an  agreement  which  I  then  and  there  drew  up:  the  sub- 
stance of  which,  as  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany, 
was  that  the  American  Ambassador  and  his  representa- 
tives in  Germany  and  the  American  Ambassador  and  his 
representatives  in  Great  Britain  should  have  the  right 
to  visit  the  prison  camps  on  giving  reasonable  notice, 
which  was  to  be  twenty-four  hours  where  possible,  and 
should  have  the  right  to  converse  with  the  prisoners,  with- 
in sight  but  out  of  hearing,  of  the  camp  officials;  that  an 
endeavour  should  be  made  to  adjust  matters  complained 
of  with  the  camp  authorities  before  bringing  them  to  the 
notice  of  higher  authorities;  that  ten  representatives 
should  be  named  by  our  Ambassador  and  that  these 
should  receive  passes  enabling  them  to  visit  the  camps 
under  the  conditions  above  stated.  This  agreement  was 
ratified  by  the  British  and  German  Governments  and 
thereafter  for  a  long  time  we  worked  under  its  provisions 
and  in  most  questions  dealt  direct  with  the  War  Depart- 
ment. 

Of  course,  before  this  meeting  I  had  managed  to  get 
permission  to  visit  the  camps  of  Ruhlebcn  and  Doeberitz 
near  Berlin;  and  Mr.  Michaelson,  our  consul  at  Cologne, 
and  Mr.  Jackson  and  others  at  the  Embassy  had  been 
permitted  to  visit  certain  camps.  But  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  meeting  on  the  fourth  of  March  and  while 
matters  were  still  being  discussed  we  were  compelled  to 
a  certain  extent  to  suspend  our  visits. 

In  the  first  days  of  the  war  it  was  undoubtedly  and  un- 


122        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

fortunately  true  that  prisoners  of  war  taken  by  the  Ger- 
mans, both  at  the  time  of  their  capture  and  in  transit  to 
the  prison  camps,  were  often  badly  treated  by  the  sol- 
diers, guards  or  the  civil  population. 

The  instances  were  too  numerous,  the  evidence  too 
overwhelming,  to  be  denied.  In  the  prison  camps  them- 
selves, owing  to  the  peculiar  system  of  military  govern- 
ment in  Germany,  the  treatment  of  the  prisoners  varied 
greatly.  As  I  have,  I  think,  stated  in  another  place, 
Germany  is  divided  into  army  corps  districts.  Over  each 
of  these  districts  is,  in  time  of  war,  a  representative  corps 
commander  who  is  clothed  with  absolute  power  in  that 
district,  his  orders  superseding  those  of  all  civilian  of- 
ficials. These  corps  commanders  do  not  report  to  the 
war  department  but  are  in  a  measure  independent  and 
very  jealous  of  their  rights.  For  instance,  to  show  the 
difficulty  of  dealing  with  these  corps  commanders,  after 
my  arrangements  concerning  the  inspection  of  prisoners 
of  war  had  been  ratified  by  both  the  Imperial  and  British 
governments,  I  went  to  Halle  to  inspect  the  place  of  de- 
tention for  officers  there.  Halle  is  some  hours  from  Ber- 
lin and  when  I  had  driven  out  to  the  camp,  I  was  met 
by  the  commander  who  told  me  that  I  might  visit  the  camp 
but  that  I  could  not  speak  to  the  prisoners  out  of  hearing. 
I  told  him  that  our  arrangement  was  otherwise,  but,  as  he 
remained  firm,  I  returned  to  Berlin.  I  complained  to 
the  Foreign  Office  and  was  told  there  that  the  matter 
would  be  arranged  and  so  I  again,  some  days  later,  re- 
turned to  Halle.  My  experience  on  the  second  trip  was 
exactly  the  same  as  the  first.  I  spoke  to  von  Jagow  who 
explained  the  situation  to  me,  and  advised  me  to  visit 
first  the  corps  commander  at  Magdeburg  and  try  and  ar- 
range the  matter  with  him.  I  did  so  and  was  finally  per- 
mitted to  visit  this  camp  and  to  talk  to  the  officers  out  of 
ear-shot. 

This  camp  of  Halle  was  continued  during  the  war,  al- 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  123 

though  not  at  all  a  fit  place  for  the  detention  of  officers, 
who  were  lodged  in  the  old  factory  buildings  surrounded 
by  a  sort  of  courtyard  covered  with  cinders.  This  build- 
ing was  situated  in  the  industrial  part  of  the  town  of 
Halle.  There  was  no  opportunity  for  recreation  or 
games,  although  several  enterprising  officers  had  tried  to 
arrange  a  place  where  they  could  knock  a  tennis  ball 
against  the  wall. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  Germans  to  put  some  prisoners 
of  each  nation  in  each  camp.  This  was  probably  so  that 
no  claim  could  be  made  that  the  prisoners  from  one  na- 
tion among  the  Allies  were  treated  better  or  worse  than 
the  prisoners  from  another  nation. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  Germans  were  sur- 
prised by  the  great  number  of  prisoners  taken  and  had 
made  no  adequate  preparations  for  their  reception. 
Clothing  and  blankets  were  woefully  wanting,  so  I  im- 
mediately bought  what  I  could  in  the  way  of  underclothes 
and  blankets  at  the  large  department  stores  of  Berlin 
and  the  wholesalers  and  sent  these  to  the  camps  where  the 
British  prisoners  were  confined.  I  also  sent  to  the  Doe- 
beritz  camp  articles  such  as  sticks  for  wounded  men  who 
were  recovering,  and  crutches,  and  even  eggs  and  other 
nourishing  delicacies  for  the  sick. 

At  first  the  prisoners  were  not  compelled  to  work  to 
any  extent,  but  at  the  time  I  left  Germany  the  two  mil- 
lion prisoners  of  war  were  materially  assisting  the  carry- 
ing on  of  the  agriculture  and  industries  of  the  Empire. 

The  League  of  Mercy  of  New  York  having  telegraphed 
me  in  19 14,  asking  in  what  way  funds  could  best  be  used 
in  the  war,  I  suggested  in  answer  that  funds  for  the  pris- 
oners of  war  were  urgently  needed.  Manv  newspapers 
poked  fun  at  me  for  this  suggestion,  and  one  Dright  editor 
said  that  if  the  Germans  did  not  treat  their  prisoners 
properly  they  should  be  made  to !  Of  course,  unless  this 
particular  editor  had  sailed  up  the  Spree  in  a  canoe  and 


V24        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

t)ombarded  the  royal  palace,  I  know  of  no  other  way  of 
"making"  the  Germans  do  anything.  The  idea,  however, 
of  doing  some  work  for  the  prisoners  of  war  was  taken 
up  by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  Dr.  John 
R.  Mott  was  at  the  head  of  this  work  and  was  most  ably 
and  devotedly  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Archibald  C.  Harte. 
I  shall  give  an  account  of  their  splendid  work  in  a  chapter 
devoted  to  the  charitable  work  of  the  war. 

At  only  one  town  in  Germany  was  any  interest  in  the 
fate  of  the  prisoners  of  war  evinced.  This  was,  I  am 
glad  to  say,  in  the  quaint  university  town  of  Gottingen. 
I  visited  this  camp  with  Mr.  Harte,  in  April,  19 15,  to 
attend  the  opening  of  the  first  Y.  M.  C.  A.  camp  building 
in  Germany.  The  camp  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Bogen,  an  officer  strict  in  his  discipline,  but,  as  all  the 
prisoners  admitted,  just  in  his  dealings  with  them.  There 
were,  as  I  recall,  about  seven  thousand  prisoners  in  this 
camp,  Russian,  French,  Belgian  and  British.  It  is  a  pity 
that  the  methods  of  Colonel  Bogen  and  his  arrangements 
for  camp  buildings,  etc.,  were  not  copied  in  other  camps 
in  Germany.  Here,  as  I  have  said,  the  civil  population 
took  some  interest  in  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  prisoners 
within  their  gates,  led  in  this  by  several  professors  in  the 
University.  The  most  active  of  these  professors  was 
Professor  Stange  who,  working  with  a  French  lawyer  who 
had  been  captured  near  Arras  while  in  the  Red  Cross, 
provided  a  library  for  the  prisoners  and  otherwise  helped 
them.  Of  course,  these  charitable  acts  of  Professor 
Stange  did  not  find  favor  with  many  of  his  fellow  towns- 
men of  Gottingen,  and  he  was  not  surprised  when  he 
awoke  one  morning  to  find  that  during  the  night  his  house 
had  been  painted  red,  white  and  blue,  the  colours  of 
France,  England  and  America. 

I  heard  of  so  many  instances  of  the  annoyance  of  pris- 
oners by  the  civil  population  that  I  was  quite  pleased  one 
day  to  read  a  paragraph  in  the  official  newspaper,  the 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  125 

North  German  Gazette,  which  ran  somewhat  as  follows: 
"The  following  inhabitants  of  (naming  a  small  town  near 
the  borders  of  Denmark) ,  having  been  guilty  of  improper 
conduct  towards  prisoners  of  war,  have  been  sentenced 
to  the  following  terms  of  Imprisonment  and  the  following 
fines  and  their  names  are  printed  here  in  order  that  they 
may  be  held  up  to  the  contempt  of  all  future  generations 
of  Germans."  And  then  followed  a  list  of  names  and 
terms  of  imprisonment  and  fines.  I  thought  that  this 
was  splendid,  that  the  German  government  had  at  last 
been  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  protecting  their  prison- 
ers of  war  from  the  annoyances  of  the  civil  population, 
and  I  wrote  to  our  consul  in  Kiel  and  asked  him  to  In- 
vestigate the  case.  From  him  I  learned  that  some  un- 
fortunate prisoners  passing  through  the  town  (in  a  part 
of  Germany  inhabited  by  Scandinavians)  had  made  signs 
that  they  were  suffering  from  hunger  and  thirst,  that 
some  of  the  kind-hearted  people  among  the  Scandinavian 
population  had  given  them  something  to  eat  and  drink 
and  for  this  they  were  condemned  to  fines,  to  prison  and 
to  have  their  names  held  up  to  the  contempt  of  Germans 
for  all  time. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  one  thing  that  can  give  a  better 
idea  of  the  official  hate  for  the  nations  with  which  Ger- 
many was  at  war  than  this. 

The  day  after  visiting  the  camp  at  Gottingen,  I  visited 
the  officers'  camp  situated  at  the  town  of  Hanover  Miin- 
den.  Here  about  eight  hundred  officers,  of  whom  only 
thirteen  were  British,  were  confined  in  an  old  factory 
building  situated  on  the  bank  of  the  river  below  the  town. 
The  Russian  officers  handed  me  some  arrows  tipped  with 
nails  which  had  been  shot  at  them  by  the  kind-hearted 
little  town  boys,  and  the  British  pointed  out  to  me  the 
filthy  conditions  of  the  camp.  In  this,  as  in  unfortunately 
many  other  ofiicer  camps,  the  inclination  seemed  to  be  to 
treat  the  officers  not  as  captured  officers  and  gentlemen, 


126        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

but  as  convicts.  I  had  quite  a  sharp  talk  with  the  com- 
mander of  this  camp  before  leaving  and  he  afterwards 
took  violent  exception  to  the  report  which  I  made  upon  his 
camp.  However,  I  am  pleased  to  say  that  he  reformed, 
as  it  were,  and  I  was  informed  by  my  inspectors  that  he 
had  finally  made  his  camp  one  of  the  best  in  Germany. 

Much  as  I  should  have  liked  to,  I  could  not  spend 
much  time  myself  in  visting  the  prison  camps;  many  duties 
and  frequent  crises  kept  me  in  Berlin,  but  members  of  the 
Embassy  were  always  travelling  in  this  work  of  camp 
Inspection. 

For  some  time  my  reports  were  published  in  parlia- 
mentary "White  Papers,"  but  in  the  end  our  government 
found  that  the  publication  of  these  reports  irritated  the 
Germans  to  such  a  degree  that  the  British  Government 
was  requested  not  to  publish  them  any  more.  Copies 
of  the  reports  were  always  sent  by  me  both  to  Washington 
and  to  London,  and  handed  to  the  Berlin  Foreign  Office. 

While  Winston  Churchill  was  at  the  head  of  the  Brit- 
ish Admiralty,  it  was  stated  that  the  German  submarine 
prisoners  would  not  be  treated  as  ordinary  prisoners  of 
war;  but  would  be  put  in  a  place  by  themselves  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  pirates  and  murderers,  and  not 
entitled  to  the  treatment  accorded  in  general  to  prisoners 
of  war.  Great  indignation  was  excited  by  this  in  Ger- 
many; the  German  government  immediately  seized  thirty- 
seven  officers,  picking  those  whom  they  supposed  related 
to  the  most  prominent  families  in  Great  Britain,  and 
placed  them  in  solitary  confinement.  A  few  were  confined 
in  this  way  in  Cologne,  but  the  majority  were  put  in  the 
ordinary  jails  of  Magdeburg  and  Burg. 

As  soon  as  I  heard  of  this,  accompanied  by  Mr. 
Charles  H.  Russell,  Jr.,  of  my  staff,  I  went  to  Magde- 
burg, using  my  ordinary  pass  for  the  visiting  of  prisoners. 
The  German  authorities  told  me  afterwards  that  if  they 
had  known  I  was  going  to  make  this  visit  they  would  not 


SUMMER 


NUMBER 


/V4- tUUSTRATED  PERI OniCAL— >■ 


A   roVKR  or   THE    MOWTHl.T   ISSUED  BY   THE  RUHLEEEIT  PRISONERS 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  127 

have  permitted  it,  but  on  this  occasion  the  corps  com- 
mander system  worked  for  me.  Accompanied  by  an 
adjutant,  in  peace  times  a  local  lawyer  from  the  corps 
commander's  office  in  Magdeburg,  and  other  officers,  I 
visited  these  British  officers  in  their  cells  in  the  common 
jail  at  Magdeburg.  They  were  in  absolutely  solitary 
confinement,  each  in  a  small  cell  about  eleven  feet  long 
and  four  feet  wide.  Some  cells  were  a  little  larger,  and 
the  prisoners  were  allowed  only  one  hour's  exercise  a  day 
in  the  courtyard  of  the  prison.  The  food  given  them  was 
not  bad,  but  the  close  confinement  was  very  trying,  espe- 
cially to  Lieutenant  Goschen,  son  of  the  former  Ambas- 
sador to  Germany,  who  had  been  wounded  and  in  the 
hospital  at  Douai.  Among  them  I  found  an  old  acquain- 
tance. Captain  Robin  Grey,  who  had  been  often  in  New 
York.  The  German  authorities  agreed  to  correct  sev- 
eral minor  matters  of  which  the  officers  complained  and 
then  we  went  to  the  neighbouring  town  of  Burg,  where 
other  officers  were  confined  in  the  same  manner  and  under 
similar  conditions  in  the  ordinary  jail.  After  visiting 
these  prisoners  and  obtaining  for  them  from  the  authori- 
ties some  modifications  of  the  rules  which  had  been  es- 
tablished we  visited  the  regular  officers'  camp  at  Burg. 

This  was  at  that  time  what  I  should  call  a  bad  camp, 
crowded  and  with  no  space  for  recreation.  Later,  condi- 
tions were  improved  and  more  ground  allowed  to  the  pris- 
oners for  games,  etc.  At  the  time  of  my  first  visit  I  found 
that  the  commander,  a  polite  but  peppery  officer,  was  in 
civil  life  a  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Leipzig,  the 
highest  court  In  the  Empire.  As  I  had  been  a  judge  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  we  foregathered  and  adjourned 
for  lunch  with  his  staff  to  the  hotel  in  Burg. 

x^fter  Churchill  left  the  British  Admiralty,  his  succes- 
sor reversed  his  ruling  and  the  submarine  prisoners  were 
placed  in  the  ordinary  confinement  of  prisoners  of  war. 
When   the   Germans   were    assured   of   this,    the   thirty- 


128        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

seven  officers  who  had  been  in  reprisal  placed  in  solitary 
confinement  were  sent  back  to  ordinary  prison  camps.  In 
fact  in  most  cases  I  managed  to  get  the  Germans  to  send 
them  to  what  were  called  "good"  camps. 

Lieutenant  Goschen,  however,  became  quite  ill  and  was 
taken  to  the  hospital  in  Magdeburg.  At  the  time  of  his 
capture,  the  Germans  had  told  me,  in  answer  to  my  inquir- 
ies, that  he  was  suffering  from  a  blow  on  the  head  with  the 
butt  end  of  a  rifle,  but  an  X-ray  examination  at  Magde- 
burg showed  that  fragments  of  a  bullet  had  penetrated 
his  brain  and  that  he  v/as,  therefore,  hardly  a  fit  subject 
to  be  chosen  as  one  of  the  reprisal  prisoners.  I  told  von 
Jagow  that  I  thought  it  in  the  first  place  a  violation  of  all 
diplomatic  courtesy  to  pick  out  the  son  of  the  former 
Ambassador  to  Germany  as  a  subject  for  reprisals  and 
secondly  that,  in  picking  him,  they  had  taken  a  wounded 
man;  that  the  fact  that  they  did  not  know  that  he  had 
fragments  of  a  bullet  in  his  brain  made  the  situation  even 
worse  because  that  ignorance  was  the  result  of  the  want 
of  a  proper  examination  in  the  German  hospitals;  and  I 
insisted  that,  because  of  this  manifestly  unfair  treatment 
which  had  undoubtedly  caused  the  very  serious  condition 
of  Lieutenant  Goschen,  he  should  be  returned  to  England 
in  the  exchange  of  those  who  were  badly  wounded.  I  am 
pleased  to  say  that  von  Jagow  saw  my  point  of  view  and 
finally  secured  permission  for  Lieutenant  Goschen  to  leave 
for  England. 

Dr.  Ohnesorg,  one  of  our  assistant  Nava!  Attaches, 
went  with  him  to  England  on  account  of  the  seriousness 
of  his  condition,  and  I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  his 
father  that  he  had  arrived  safely  in  London. 

Undoubtedly  the  worst  camp  which  I  visited  in  Ger- 
many was  that  of  Wittenberg.  Wittenberg  is  the  ancient 
town  where  Luther  lived  and  nailed  his  theses  to  the 
church  door.  The  camp  is  situated  just  outside  the  city  in 
a  very  unattractive  spot  next  to  the  railway.    An  outbreak 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  129 

of  typhus  fever  prevented  us  from  visiting  the  camp,  al- 
though Mr.  Jackson  conversed  with  some  of  the  prisoners 
from  outside  the  barrier  of  barbed  wire.  When  the  ty- 
phus was  finally  driven  out,  Mr.  Lithgow  Osborne  visited 
the  camp  and  his  report  of  conditions  there  was  such 
that  I  visited  it  myself,  in  the  meantime  holding  up  his 
report  until  I  had  verified  it. 

With  Mr.  Charles  H.  Russell,  Jr.,  I  visited  the  camp. 
Typhus  fever  seems  to  be  continually  present  in  Russia. 
It  is  carried  by  the  body  louse  and  it  is  transmitted  from 
one  person  to  another.  Russian  soldiers  seem  to  carry 
this  disease  with  them  without  apparently  suffering  much 
from  it  themselves.  The  Russian  soldiers  arriving  at 
W^ittenberg  were  not  properly  disinfected  and,  in  con- 
sequence, typhus  fever  broke  out  in  camp.  Several  Brit- 
ish medical  officers  were  there  with  their  prisoners,  be- 
cause, by  the  provisions  of  the  Hague  conventions,  cap- 
tured medical  officers  may  be  kept  with  the  troops  of  their 
nation,  if  prisoners  have  need  of  their  services.  These 
medical  officers  protested  with  the  camp  commander 
against  the  herding  together  of  the  French  and  Dritish 
prisoners  with  the  Russians,  who,  as  I  have  said,  were 
suffering  from  typhus  fever.  But  the  camp  commander 
said,  "You  will  have  to  know  your  Allies;"  and  kept  all 
of  his  prisoners  together,  and  thus  as  surely  condemned 
to  death  a  number  of  French  and  British  prisoners  of  war 
as  though  he  had  stood  them  against  the  wall  and  ordered 
them  shot  by  a  firing  squad.  Conditions  in  the  camp  dur- 
ing the  period  of  this  epidemic  were  frightful.  The  camp 
was  practically  deserted  by  the  Germans  and  I  under- 
stand that  the  German  doctor  did  not  make  as  many  visits 
to  the  camp  as  the  situation  required. 

At  the  time  I  visited  the  camp  the  typhus  epidemic,  of 
course,  had  been  stamped  out.  The  Germans  employed 
a  large  number  of  police  dogs  in  this  camp  and  these  dogs 
not  only  were  used  in  watching  the  outside  of  the  camp 


i3o        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

in  order  to  prevent  the  escape  of  prisoners  but  also  were 
used  within  the  camp.  Many  complaints  were  made  to 
me  by  prisoners  concerning  these  dogs,  stating  that  men 
had  been  bitten  by  them.  It  seemed  undoubtedly  true  that 
the  prisoners  there  had  been  knocked  about  and  beaten  in 
a  terrible  manner  by  their  guards,  and  one  guard  went 
so  far  as  to  strike  one  of  the  British  medical  officers. 
There  were  about  thirty-seven  civilian  prisoners  in  the 
camp  who  had  been  there  all  through  the  typhus  epidemic. 
I  secured  the  removal  of  these  civilian  prisoners  to  the 
general  civilian  camp  at  Ruhleben,  and  the  conditions  at 
Wittenberg  may  be  judged  by  the  fact  that  when  it  was 
announced  to  these  civilians  that  they  were  to  be  taken 
from  Wittenberg  to  another  camp  one  of  them  was  so 
excited  by  the  news  of  release  that  he  fell  dead  upon  the 
spot. 

In  talking  over  conditions  at  Wittenberg  with  von 
Jagow  I  said,  "Suppose  I  go  back  to  Wittenberg  and 
shoot  some  of  these  dogs,  what  can  you  do  to  me?"  Soon 
after  the  dogs  disappeared  from  the  camp. 

The  food  in  all  these  camps  for  civilians  and  for  pri- 
vate soldiers  was  about  the  same.  It  consisted  of  an  al- 
lowance of  bread  of  the  same  weight  as  that  given  the 
civilian  population.  This  was  given  out  in  the  morning 
with  a  cup  of  something  called  coffee,  but  which  in  reality 
was  an  extract  of  acorns  or  something  of  the  kind  with- 
out milk  or  sugar;  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  a  bowl  of 
thick  soup  in  which  the  quantity  of  meat  was  gradually 
diminished  as  war  went  on,  as  well  as  the  amount  of  po- 
tatoes for  which  at  a  later  period  turnips  and  carrots 
were,  to  a  large  extent,  substituted;  and  in  the  evening 
in  good  camps  there  was  some  sort  of  thick  soup  given 
out  or  an  apple,  or  an  almost  infinitesimal  piece  of  cheese 
or  sausage. 

In  the  war  department  at  Berlin  there  was  a  Prisoners 
of  War  Department  in  charge  of  Colonel,  later  General, 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  131 

Friedrich.  This  department,  however,  did  not  seem  to 
be  in  a  position  to  issue  orders  to  the  corps  commanders 
commanding  the  army  corps  districts  of  Germany,  who 
had  absolute  control  of  the  prison  camps  within  their 
districts.  Colonel  Friedrich,  however,  and  his  assistants 
endeavored  to  standardise  the  treatment  of  prisoners  of 
war  in  the  different  corps  districts,  and  were  able  to  exert 
a  certain  amount  of  pressure  on  the  corps  commanders. 
They  determined  on  the  general  reprisals  to  be  taken  in 
connection  with  prisoners  of  war  For  instance,  when 
some  of  the  Germans,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  by 
the  British  and  who  were  in  England,  were  sent  to  work 
in  the  harbour  of  Havre,  the  Germans  retaliated  by  send- 
ing about  four  times  the  number  of  British  prisoners  to 
work  at  Libau  in  the  part  of  Russia  then  occupied  by 
the  Germans.  But  while  the  British  permitted  our  Em- 
bassy in  Paris  to  inspect  the  prisoners  of  war  at  Havre, 
the  Germans  for  months  refused  to  allow  me  permission 
to  send  any  one  to  inspect  those  British  prisoners  at 
Libau. 

Cases  came  to  my  attention  where  individual  corps 
commanders  on  their  own  initiative  directed  punitive 
measures  against  the  prisoners  of  war  in  their  districts, 
on  account  of  the  rumours  of  the  bad  treatment  of  Ger- 
man citizens  in  England.  Thus  the  commander  in  the 
district  where  the  camp  of  Doeberitz  was  situated  issued 
an  order  directing  reprisals  against  prisoners  under  his 
command  on  account  of  what  he  claimed  to  be  the  bad 
treatment  of  German  women  in  England.  It  required 
constant  vigilance  to  seek  out  instances  of  this  kind  and 
cause  them  to  be  remedied. 

I  did  not  find  the  Germans  at  all  efficient  in  the  handling 
of  prisoners  of  war.  The  authority  was  so  divided  that 
it  was  hard  to  find  who  was  responsible  for  any  given 
bad  conditions.  For  instance,  for  a  long  period  of  time  I 
contended  with  the  German  authorities  for  better  living 


132        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

conditions  at  the  civilian  camp  of  Ruhleben.  I  was  prom- 
ised time  and  again  by  Colonel  Friedrich,  by  the  camp 
commander  and  by  the  Foreign  Office  that  these  conditions 
would  be  remedied.  In  that  camp  men  of  education,  men 
in  delicate  health,  were  compelled  to  sleep  and  live  six 
in  a  box  stall  or  so  closely  that  the  beds  touched  each 
other  in  hay-lofts,  the  outside  walls  of  which  were  only 
four  feet  high. 

I  finally  almost  in  despair  wrote  Identical  personal 
letters,  after  having  exhausted  all  ordinary  diplomatic 
steps,  to  General  von  Kessel,  Commander  of  the  Mark  of 
Brandenburg,  to  the  commander  of  the  corps  district  in 
which  the  Ruhleben  camp  was  situated,  and  to  the  Min- 
ister of  War:  and  the  only  result  was  that  each  of  the  of- 
ficers addressed  claimed  that  he  had  been  personally  in- 
sulted by  me  because  I  had  presumed  to  call  his  attention 
to  the  inhuman  conditions  under  which  the  prisoners  were 
compelled  to  live  in  the  Ruhleben  camp. 

The  commander  of  this  civilian  camp  of  Ruhleben  was 
a  very  handsome  old  gentleman,  named  Count  Schwerin. 
His  second  in  command  for  a  long  time  was  a  Baron 
Taube.  Both  of  these  officers  had  been  long  retired  from 
the  army  and  were  given  these  prison  commands  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war.  Both  of  them  were  naturally 
kind-hearted  but  curiously  sensitive  and  not  always  of 
even  temper.  On  the  whole  I  think  that  they  sympathised 
with  the  prisoners  and  did  their  best  to  obtain  a  bettering 
of  the  conditions  of  their  confinement.  The  prisoners  or- 
ganised themselves  in  their  various  barracks,  each  bar- 
rack having  a  captain  of  the  barrack,  the  captains  electing 
one  of  their  number  as  a  camp  captain  or  Obmann. 

The  man  who  finally  appeared  as  head  man  of  the 
camp  was  an  ex-cinematograph  proprietor,  named  Powell. 
In  my  mind  he,  assisted  by  Beaumont  and  other  captains, 
conducted  the  affairs  of  the  camp  as  well  as  possible, 
given   the   difficulty   of   dealing   with   the   prisoners   on 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  133 

one  hand  and  the  prison  authorities  on  the  other  hand. 
Naturally  he  was  always  subject  to  opposition  from  many 
prisoners,  among  whom  those  of  aristocratic  tendencies 
objected  to  being  under  the  control  of  one  not  of  the 
highest  caste  in  Great  Britain;  and  there  were  others  who 
either  envied  him  his  authority  or  desired  his  place.  The 
camp  authorities  allowed  Powell  to  visit  the  Embassy  at 
least  once  a  week  and  in  that  way  I  was  enabled  to  keep  in 
direct  touch  with  the  camp.  At  two  periods  during  my 
stay  in  Berlin  I  spent  enough  days  at  the  camp  to  enable 
every  prisoner  who  had  a  complaint  of  any  kind  to  pre- 
sent it  personally  to  me. 

The  organisation  of  this  camp  was  quite  entraordinary. 
1  found  it  Impossible  to  get  British  prisoners  to  perform 
the  ordinary  work  of  cleaning  up  the  camp,  and  so  forth, 
always  expected  of  prisoners  themselves;  and  so,  with 
the  funds  furnished  me  from  the  British  Government, 
the  camp  captain  was  compelled  to  pay  a  number  of 
the  poorer  prisoners  to  perform  this  work.  Secretaries 
Ruddock  and  Kirk  of  our  Embassy  undertook  the  unin- 
teresting and  arduous  work  of  superintending  these  pay- 
ments as  well  as  of  our  other  financial  affairs.  This  work 
was  most  trying  and  they  deserve  great  credit  for  their 
self-denial.  By  arrangement  with  the  British  Govern- 
ment, I  was  also  enabled  to  pay  the  poorer  prisoners  an 
allowance  of  five  marks  a  week,  thus  permitting  them  to 
buy  little  luxuries  and  necessities  and  extra  food  at  the 
camp  canteen  which  was  early  established  in  the  camp. 
I  also  furnished  the  capital  to  the  camp  canteen,  enabling 
It  to  make  its  purchases  and  carry  on  its  business.  In  this 
establishment  everything  could  be  purchased  which  was 
purchasable  In  Germany,  and  for  months  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war  articles  of  luxury  were  sold  at  a 
profit  and  articles  of  food  sold  at  a  loss  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  required  an  addition  to  the  camp  diet.  There 
was  a  street  In  the  camp  of  little  barracks  or  booths  which 


134        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

the  prisoners  christened  Bond  Street,  and  where  many 
stores  were  in  operation  such  as  a  tailor  shop,  shoe- 
maker's, watchmaker's,  etc.  Acting  with  Powell,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  German  authorities  to  turn  over 
the  kitchens  to  the  prisoners.  Four  of  the  prisoners  who 
did  most  excellent  self-denying  work  in  these  kitchens 
deserve  to  be  specially  mentioned.  They  were  Ernest  L. 
Pyke,  Herbert  Kastner,  Richard  H.  Carrad  and  George 
Fergusson. 

The  men  in  this  camp  subsisted  to  a  great  extent  upon 
the  packages  of  food  sent  to  them  from  England.  Credit 
must  be  given  to  the  German  authorities  for  the  fairly 
prompt  and  efficient  delivery  of  the  packages  of  food  sent 
from  England,  Denmark  and  Switzerland  to  prisoners 
of  war  in  all  camps. 

In  Ruhleben  the  educated  prisoners  volunteered  to  teach 
the  ignorant:  two  hundred  and  ninety-seven  different 
educational  courses  were  offered  to  those  who  desired  to 
improve  their  minds.  A  splendid  orchestra  was  organ- 
ised, a  dramatic  society  which  gave  plays  in  French  and 
one  which  gave  plays  in  English  and  another  one  which 
gave  operas.  On  New  Year's  day,  191 6,  I  attended  at 
Ruhleben  a  really  wonderful  performxance  of  the  panto- 
mime of  "Cinderella";  and,  in  January,  1917,  a  per- 
formance of  "The  Mikado"  in  a  theatre  under  one  of  the 
grand  stands.  In  these  productions,  of  course,  the  fe- 
male parts  were  taken  by  young  men  and  the  scenery, 
costumes  and  accessories  were  all  made  by  the  prisoners. 
There  was  a  camp  library  of  over  five  thousand  volumes 
sent  over  by  the  British  Government  and  a  reading  and 
meeting  hall,  erected  by  the  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  There 
was  even  a  system  of  postal  service  with  special  stamps 
so  that  a  prisoner  in  one  barrack  could  write  to  a  friend 
in  another  and  have  a  letter  delivered  by  the  camp  postal 
authorities.  The  German  authorities  had  not  hired  the 
entire  race  track  from  the  Race  Track  Association  so  that 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  135 

1  made  a  special  contract  with  the  race  track  owners  and 
hired  from  them  the  in-field  and  other  portions  not  taken 
over  by  German  authorities.  Here  the  prisoners  had  ten- 
nis courts  and  played  hockey,  foot-ball  and  cricket  and 
held  athletic  games.  Expert  dentists  in  the  camp  took 
care  of  the  poorer  prisoners  as  did  an  occulist  hired  by 
me  with  British  funds,  and  glasses  were  given  them  from 
the  same  funds. 

The  prisoners  who  needed  a  little  better  nourishment 
than  that  afforded  by  the  camp  diet  and  their  parcels  from 
England,  could  obtain  cards  giving  them  the  right  to  eat 
in  the  Casino  or  camp  official  restaurant  where  they  were 
allowed  a  certain  indicated  amount  of  wine  or  beer  with 
their  meals,  and  finally  arrangements  were  arrived  at 
by  which  the  German  guards  left  the  camp,  simply  guard- 
ing it  from  the  outside;  and  the  policing  was  taken  over 
by  the  camp  police  department,  under  the  charge  of  the 
prison  camp  commander  and  committee.  The  worst  fea- 
tures, of  course,  were  the  food  and  housing.  Human 
nature  seems  always  to  be  the  same.  Establishment  of 
clubs  seems  inherent  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  nature.  Ten 
or  more  persons  would  combine  together  and  erect  a  sort 
of  wooden  shed  against  the  brick  walls  of  a  barrack,  hire 
some  poorer  person  to  put  on  a  white  jacket  and  be  ad- 
dressed as  "steward,"  put  in  the  shed  a  few  deck  chairs 
and  a  table  and  enjoy  the  sensation  of  exclusiveness  and 
club  life  thereby  given. 

Owing  to  the  failure  of  Germany  and  Great  Britain 
to  come  to  an  agreement  for  a  long  time  as  to  the  release 
of  captured  crews  of  ships,  there  were  in  Ruhleben  men 
as  old  as  seventy-five  years  and  boys  as  young  as  fifteen. 
There  were  in  all  between  fifty  and  sixty  of  these  ships' 
boys.  They  lived  in  a  barrack  by  themselves  and  under 
the  supervision  of  a  ship's  officer  who  volunteered  to 
look  after  them  as  sort  of  a  monitor.  They  were  taught 
navigation  by  the  older  prisoners  and  I   imagine  were 


136        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

rather  benefited  by  their  stay  in  the  camp.  I  finally  made 
arrangements  by  which  these  boys  were  released  from 
England  and  Germany.  With  the  exception  of  the  of- 
ficers and  crews  of  the  ships,  prisoners  were  not  interned 
who  were  over  fifty-five. 

The  British  Government  was  generous  In  the  allowance 
of  money  for  Ruhleben  prisoners.  The  amount  allowed 
by  the  German  Government  to  the  camp  commanders  for 
feeding  the  prisoners  was  extremely  small,  only  sixty 
pfennigs  a  day.  At  first  many  of  the  camp  commanders 
made  contracts  with  caterers  for  the  feeding  of  the  pris- 
oners and  as  the  caterers'  profit  had  to  come  out  of  this 
very  small  sum  the  amount  of  food  which  the  remainder 
purchased  for  the  prisoners  was  small  indeed.  As  the 
war  went  on  the  prisoners'  department  of  the  war  office 
tried  to  induce  the  camp  commanders  to  abandon  the 
contractors'  system  and  purchase  supplies  themselves.  A 
sort  of  convention  of  camp  commanders  was  held  in  Ber- 
lin which  I  attended.  Lectures  were  there  given  on  food 
and  its  purchase,  and  methods  of  disinfecting  prisoners, 
on  providing  against  typhus,  and  on  housing  and  other 
subjects.  A  daily  lunch  was  served,  supposed  to  be  com- 
posed of  the  exact  rations  given  at  the  prison  camps. 

The  schedules  of  food,  etc.,  made  out  by  the  camp 
commanders  and  furnished  to  foreign  correspondents 
were  often  not  followed  in  practice.  I  know  on  one  oc- 
casion when  I  was  at  the  camp  at  Doeberitz,  the  camp 
commander  gave  me  his  schedule  of  food  for  the  week. 
This  provided  that  soup  with  pieces  of  meat  was  to  be 
given  on  the  day  of  my  visit,  but  on  visiting  the  camp 
kitchen  I  found  that  the  contractor  was  serving  fish  in- 
stead of  meat.  Some  of  the  camp  commanders  not  only 
treated  their  prisoners  kindly  but  introduced  manufac- 
tures of  furniture,  etc.,  to  help  the  prisoners  to  pass  their 
time.  7"he  camps  of  Krossen  and  Gottingen  deserve  spe- 
cial mention.    At  Giessen,  the  camp  commander  had  per- 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  137 

rmitted  the  erection  of  a  barrack  in  which  certain  prison- 
'crs  who  were  electrical  experts  gave  lessons  in  electrical 
fitting,  etc.,  to  their  fellow  prisoners.  There  was  also  a 
studio  in  this  camp  where  prisoners  with  artistic  talent 
were  furnished  with  paints  and  allowed  to  work.  As 
jTiore  and  more  people  were  called  to  the  front  in  Ger- 
many, greater  use  was  made  of  the  prisoners,  and  in  the 
summer  of  19 16  practically  all  the  prisoners  were  com- 
pelled to  work  outside  of  the  camps.  They  were  paid 
a  small  extra  sum  for  this,  a  few  cents  a  day,  and  as  a 
rule  were  benefited  by  the  change  of  scene  and  occupation. 
The  Russians  especially  became  very  useful  to  the  Ger- 
mans as  agricultural  laborers. 

Professor  Alonzo  E.  Taylor  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, a  food  expert,  and  Dr.  D.  J.  McCarthy,  also  of 
Philadelphia,  joined  my  staff  in  1916  and  proved  most 
■efficient  and  fearless  inspectors  of  prison  camps.  Dr. 
7  aylor  could  use  the  terms  calories,  proteins,  etc.,  as  read- 
ily as  German  experts  and  at  a  greater  rate  of  speed. 
His  report  showing  that  the  official  diet  of  the  prisoners 
in  Ruhleben  was  a  starvation  diet  incensed  the  German 
authorities  to  such  fury  that  they  forbade  him  to  revisit 
Ruhleben.  Professor  Buckhaus,  the  German  expert, 
agreed  with  him  in  some  of  his  findings.  I  do  not  know 
what  will  happen  to  the  Professor,  who  seemed  willing 
to  do  his  best  for  the  prisoners.  He  wrote  a  booklet  on 
the  prison  camps  which  he  asked  permission  to  dedicate 
to  me,  but  the  War  Office,  which  published  the  book,  re- 
fused to  allow  him  to  make  this  dedication.  It  was  a 
real  pleasure  to  see  the  way  in  which  Dr.  Taylor  carried 
on  his  work  of  food  inspection;  and  his  work,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  other  doctors  sent  from  America  to  join  my 
staff,  Drs.  Furbush,  McCarthy,  Roler,  Harns,  Webster 
and  Luginbuhl,  did  much  to  better  camp  conditions. 

Dr.  Caldwell,  the  sanitary  expert,  known  for  his  great 
work  in  Serbia,  now  I  believe  head  of  the  hospital  at 


138        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMAxNY 

Pittsburgh,  reported  in  regard  to  the  prison  diet:  "While 
of  good  quahty  and  perhaps  sufficient  in  quantity  by 
weight,  it  is  lacking  in  the  essential  elements  which  con- 
tribute to  the  making  of  a  well-balanced  and  satisfactory 
diet.  It  is  lacking  particularly  in  fat  and  protein  content 
which  is  especially  desirable  during  the  colder  months  of 
the  year.  *  *  *  There  is  considerable  doubt  whether 
this  diet  alone  without  being  supplemented  by  the  articles 
of  food  received  by  the  prisoners  from  their  homes  would 
in  any  way  be  sufficient  to  maintain  the  prisoners  in  health 
and  strength." 

Dr.  Caldwell  also  visited  Wittenberg  and  found  the 
commander  by  temperament,  and  so  on,  unfitted  for 
such  a  position. 

The  Germans,  as  Dr.  Taylor  has  pointed  out,  tried 
to  feed  prisoners  on  schedule  like  horses.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  nervous  discrimination  in  eating  so  far  as  man  is 
concerned;  and  a  diet,  scientifically  fitted  to  keep  him 
alive,  may  fail  because  of  its  mere  monotony. 

Think  of  living  as  the  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany 
have  for  years,  without  ever  having  anything  (except 
black  bread)  which  cannot  be  eaten  with  a  spoon. 

Officer  prisoners  were,  after  matters  had  settled  down 
and  after  several  bitter  contests  which  I  had  with  the 
German  authorities,  fairly  well  treated.  There  was,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  camps  for  the  privates,  a  great  differ- 
ence between  camps,  and  a  great  difference  between 
camp  commanders.  Mr.  Jackson  did  most  of  the 
visiting  of  the  officers'  camps.  In  many  camps  the  of- 
ficers were  allowed  a  tennis  court  and  other  amusements, 
as  well  as  light  wine  or  beer  at  meals,  but  the  length  of 
the  war  had  a  bad  effect  on  the  mental  condition  of  many 
of  the  officers. 

A  great  step  forward  was  made  when  arrangements 
were  entered  into  between  Germany  and  Great  Britain 
whereby  wounded  and  sick  officers  and  men,  when  passed 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  139 

by  the  Swiss  Commission  which  visited  both  countries, 
were  sent  to  Switzerland;  sent  still  as  prisoners  of  war, 
subject  to  return  to  Germany  or  England  respectively, 
but  the  opportunity  afforded  by  change  of  food  and  scene, 
as  well  as  reunion  of  families,  saved  many  a  life.  By  ar- 
rangements between  the  two  countries,  also,  the  severely 
wounded  prisoners  were  set  free.  I  believe  that  this  ex- 
change of  the  heavily  wounded  between  the  Germans 
and  the  Russians  was  the  factor  which  prevented  the  en- 
trance of  Sweden  into  the  war.  These  wounded  men 
traversed  the  whole  length  of  Sweden  in  the  railway, 
and  the  spectacle  afforded  to  the  Swedish  population 
of  these  poor  stumps  of  humanity,  victims  of  war,  has 
quite  effectually  kept  the  Swedish  population  from  an  at- 
tack of  unnecessary  war  fever. 

Officers  and  men  who  tried  to  escape  were  not  very 
severely  punished  in  Germany  unless  they  had  broken  or 
stolen  something  in  their  attempt.  Officers  were  usually 
subjected  to  a  jail  confinement  for  a  period  and  then  often 
sent  to  a  sort  of  punitive  camp.  Such  a  camp  was  situated 
in  one  of  the  Ring  forts  surrounding  the  city  of  Kustrin 
which  I  visited  in  September,  19 16.  There  the  officers 
had  no  opportunity  for  exercise  except  in  a  very  small 
courtyard  or  on  the  roof,  which  was  covered  with  grass, 
of  the  building  in  which  they  were  confined.  I  arranged, 
however,  on  my  visit  for  the  construction  of  a  tennis 
court  outside.  The  British  ofl'icers  in  Germany  practically 
subsisted  on  their  parcels  received  from  home,  and  during 
the  end  of  my  stay  a  much  better  tea  could  be  had  with 
the  prison  officers  than  with  the  camp  commander.  The 
prisoners  had  real  tea  and  marmalade  and  white  bread  to 
offer,  luxuries  which  had  long  since  disappeared  from  all 
Cjerman  tables.  On  the  whole,  the  quarters  given  to  the 
officers'  prisons  in  Germany  were  not  satisfactory,  and 
were  not  of  the  kind  that  should  have  been  offered  to 
officer  prisoners  of  war. 


140        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

At  the  time  I  left  Germany  there  were  nearly  two  mil- 
lion prisoners  of  war  in  the  Empire,  of  whom  about  ten 
thousand  were  Russian  officers,  nine  thousand  French  of- 
ficers and  about  one  thousand  British  officers. 

As  a  rule  our  inspectors  found  the  hospitals,  where  the 
prisoners  of  war  were,  in  as  good  condition  as  could  be 
expected. 

I  think  this  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  so  many 
doctors  in  Germany  are  Jews.  The  people  who  are  of 
the  Jewish  race  are  people  of  gentle  instincts.  In  these 
hospitals  a  better  diet  was  given  to  the  prisoners.  There 
were,  of  course,  in  addition  to  the  regular  hospitals, 
hospitals  where  the  severely  wounded  prisoners  were 
sent.  Almost  uniformly  these  hospitals  were  clean  and 
the  prisoners  were  well  taken  care  of. 

At  Ruhleben  there  was  a  hospital  which  in  spite  of 
many  representations  was  never  in  proper  shape.  In 
addition,  there  was  in  the  camp  a  special  barrack  estab- 
lished by  the  prisoners  themselves  for  the  care  of  those 
who  were  so  ill  or  so  weak  as  to  require  special  atten- 
tion but  who  were  not  ill  enough  to  be  sent  to  the  hospi- 
tal. This  barrack  was  for  a  long  time  in  charge  of  a 
devoted  gentleman,  a  prisoner,  whose  name  I  have  un- 
fortunately forgotten,  but  whose  self-sacrifice  deserves 
special  mention. 

I  arranged  with  the  camp  authorities  and  the  German 
authorities  for  permission  to  enter  into  a  contract  with 
Dr.  Weilcr.  Under  this  contract  Dr.  V/eiler,  who  had 
a  sanatorium  in  the  West  of  Berlin,  received  patients 
from  Ruhleben.  Those  who  were  able  paid  for  them- 
selves, the  poorer  ones  being  paid  for  by  the  British 
Government.  This  sanatorium  occupied  several  villas. 
I  had  many  disputes  with  Dr.  Weiler,  but  finally  managed 
to  get  this  sanatorium  in  such  condition  that  the  prisoners 
who  resided  there  were  fairly  well  taken  care  of. 

An  arrangement  was  made  between  Great  Britain  and 


'A      1  ,    I    1        'Cnt  ntnaCRi  J 


IN   RUHLEBEN  CAMP.      A   SPECIMEN   BOTH   OF 
THE    prisoner-artist's    WORK    AND    OK 
THE  TYPES  ABOUT   HIM 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  141 

Germany  by  which  civilians  unfit  for  military  service  were 
sent  to  their  respective  countries,  and  just  before  I  left 
1  effected  an  arrangement  by  which  all  civilians  over 
forty-five  years  old,  with  the  exception  of  twenty  who 
might  be  held  by  each  country  for  military  reasons,  were 
to  be  released.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  arrangement 
was  actually  carried  out  in  full. 

With  the  lapse  of  time  the  mental  condition  of  the 
older  prisoners  in  Ruhleben  had  become  quite  alarming. 
Soldier  prisoners,  when  they  enter  the  army,  are  always  in 
good  physical  condition  and  enter  with  the  expectation 
of  either  being  killed  or  wounded  or  taken  prisoner,  and 
have  made  their  arrangements  accordingly.  But  these 
unfortunate  civilian  prisoners  were  often  men  in  delicate 
health,  and  all  were  in  a  constant  state  of  great  mental 
anxiety  as  to  the  fate  of  their  business  and  their  enter- 
prises and  their  families.  In  1916,  not  only  jMr.  Grafton 
Minot,  who  for  some  time  had  devoted  himself  exclusively 
to  the  Ruhleben  prisoners,  but  also  Mr.  Ellis  Dresel,  a 
distinguished  lawyer  of  Boston,  who  had  joined  the  Em- 
bassy as  a  volunteer,  took  up  the  work.  Mr.  Dresel 
visited  Ruhleben  almost  daily  and  by  listening  to  the 
stories  and  complaints  of  the  prisoners  materially  helped 
their  mental  condition. 

The  Germans  collected  all  the  soldier  prisoners  of 
Irish  nationality  in  one  camp  at  Limburg  not  far  from 
Frankfurt  a.  M.  There  efforts  were  made  to  induce  them 
to  join  the  German  army.  The  men  were  well  treated 
and  were  often  visited  by  Sir  Roger  Casement  who,  work- 
ing with  the  German  authorities,  tried  to  get  these  Irish- 
men to  desert  their  flag  and  join  the  Germans.  A  few 
weaklings  were  persuaded  by  Sir  Roger  who  finally  dis- 
continued his  visits,  after  obtaining  about  thirty  recruits, 
because  the  remaining  Irishmen  chased  him  out  of  the 
camp. 

I  received  Information  of  the  shooting  of  one  prisoner, 


142        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  although  the  camp  authorities  had  told  Dr.  Mc- 
Carthy that  the  investigation  had  been  closed  and  the 
guard  who  did  the  shooting  exonerated,  nevertheless, 
when  I  visited  the  camp  in  order  to  investigate,  I  was  told 
that  I  could  not  do  so  because  the  matter  of  the  shooting 
was  still  under  Investigation.  Nor  was  I  allowed  to 
speak  to  those  prisoners  who  had  been  witnesses  at  the 
time  of  the  shooting.  I  afterwards  learned  that  another 
Irishman  had  been  shot  by  a  guard  on  the  day  before  my 
visit,  and  the  same  obstacles  to  my  investigation  were 
drawn  about  this  case. 

The  Irishmen  did  not  bear  confinement  well,  and  at  the 
time  of  my  visit  among  them  many  of  them  were  suf- 
fering from  tuberculosis  in  the  camp  hospital.  They 
seemed  also  peculiarly  subject  to  mental  breakdowns.  Two 
devoted  Catholic  priests.  Father  Crotty  and  a  Brother 
Warren  from  a  religious  house  in  Belgium,  were  doing 
wonderful  work  among  these  prisoners. 

The  sending  out  of  the  prisoners  of  war  to  work 
throughout  Germany  has  had  one  very  evil  effect.  It 
has  made  it  to  the  financial  advantage  of  certain  farmers 
and  manufacturers  to  have  the  war  continued.  The  Prus- 
sian land  owners  or  Junkers  obtain  four  or  five  times 
as  much  for  their  agricultural  products  as  they  did  before 
the  war  and  have  the  work  on  their  farms  performed 
by  prisoners  of  war  to  whom  they  are  required  to  pay  only 
six  cents  a  day.  When  the  Tageblatl  called  attention  to 
this  it  was  suppressed  for  several  days. 

At  many  of  these  so-called  working  camps  our  inspec- 
tors were  refused  admission  on  the  ground  that  they 
might  learn  trade  or  war  secrets.  They  succeeded,  how- 
ever, in  having  the  men  sent  outside  in  order  that  they 
might  inspect  them  and  hear  their  complaints.  There 
were  in  Germany  about  one  hundred  central  camps  and 
perhaps  ttn  thousand  or  more  so-called  working  camps, 
in  summer  time,  throughout  the  country.     Some  of  the 


PRISONERS  OF  WAR  143 

British  prisoners  were  put  to  work  on  the  sewage  farm 
of  Berhn  but  we  succeeded  in  getting  them  sent  back  to 
their  parent  camp. 

The  prisoners  of  war  were  often  accused  of  various 
breaches  of  discipline  and  crimes.  Members  of  the  Em- 
bassy would  attend  these  trials,  and  we  endeavoured 
to  see  that  the  prisoners  were  properly  represented.  But 
the  Germans  often  refused  us  an  opportunity  to  see  the 
prisoners  before  their  trial,  or  even  before  their  execu- 
tion.   The  case  of  Captain  Fryatt  is  in  point. 

Captain  Fryatt  who  commanded  a  British  merchant 
ship  was  captured  and  taken  to  the  civilian  camp  at  Ruhle- 
ben.  In  searching  him  the  Germans  claimed  that  he  wore 
a  watch  presented  to  him  for  an  attempt  to  ram  a  German 
submarine.  They,  therefore,  took  Fryatt  from  the  Ruhle- 
ben  camp  and  sent  him  to  Bruges  for  trial.  When  I 
heard  of  this  I  immediately  sent  two  formal  notes  to  the 
German  Foreign  Office  demanding  the  right  to  see  Fryatt 
and  hire  counsel  to  represent  him,  inquiring  what  sort  of 
counsel  would  be  permitted  to  atten>?l  the  trial  and  asking 
for  postponement  of  the  trial  until  these  matters  could 
be  arranged.  The  German  Foreign  Office  had  informed 
me  that  they  had  backed  up  these  requests  and  I  believe 
them,  but  the  answer  of  the  German  admiralty  to  my 
notes  was  to  cause  the  trial  to  proceed  the  morning  after 
the  day  on  which  my  notes  were  delivered  and  to  shoot 
Fryatt  before  noon  of  the  same  day. 

As  to  the  evidence  regarding  the  watch,  the  British 
Foreign  Office  learned  that,  when  captured,  Captain 
Fryatt  had  neither  a  watch  nor  any  letter  to  indicate  that 
he  had  tried  to  ram  a  submarine! 

This  cruel  and  high-handed  outrage  caused  great  in- 
dignation in  Great  Britain,  and  even  in  certain  cir- 
cles in  Germany;  and  the  manner  in  which  my  request 
was  treated  was  certainly  a  direct  insult  to  the  country 
which  I  represented.     In  conversation  with  me,  Zimmer- 


144        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

mann  and  the  Chancellor  and  von  Jagow  all  expressed 
the  greatest  regret  over  this  incident,  which  shows  how 
little  control  the  civilian  branch  of  the  government  has 
over  the  military  in  time  of  war.  Later  on,  when  similar 
charges  were  made  against  another  British  sea  captain, 
the  Foreign  Office,  I  think  through  the  influence  of  the 
Emperor,  was  able  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the  Fryatt 
outrage. 

As  I  have  said,  many  of  the  camp  commanders  in 
Germany  were  men,  excellent  and  efficient  and  kind 
hearted,  who  did  what  they  could  for  the  prisoners.  It 
is  a  pity  that  these  men  should  bear  the  odium  which  at- 
taches to  Germany  because  of  the  general  bad  treatment 
of  prisoners  of  war  in  the  first  days  of  the  war,  and  be- 
cause certain  commanders  of  prison  camps  were  not  fitted 
for  their  positions. 

The  commander  at  the  camp  at  Wittenberg  was  re- 
placed, but  the  Germans  have  never  acknowledged  that 
bad  conditions  had  existed  in  that  camp.  Shortly  before 
we  left  Germany  the  war  department  seemed  to  gain  more 
control  of  the  prisoners  of  war  situation,  and  on  our 
representations  at  least  one  camp  commander  was  per- 
manently relieved.  If  examples  had  been  made  early 
in  the  war  of  the  camp  commanders  who  were  not  fit  for 
their  places  and  of  those  who  had  in  any  way  mishandled 
prisoners  of  war,  the  German  people  as  a  whole  would 
not  have  had  to  bear  the  burden  of  this  odium.  The  many 
prisoners  will  return  to  their  homes  with  a  deep  and  bitter 
hatred  of  all  things  German. 

The  British  Government  took  a  great  interest  in  the 
British  prisoners  in  Germany.  Nothing  was  omitted  and 
every  suggestion  made  by  me  was  immediately  acted  on; 
while  many  most  valuable  hints  were  given  me  from  Lon- 
don as  to  prisoners'  affairs.  Their  Majesties,  the  King 
and  Queen,  showed  a  deep  personal  concern  in  the  wel- 
fare of  the  unfortunate  British  in  German  hands;  and  this 


PRISONERS  OK  WAR  145 

concern  never  flagged  during  the  period  of  my  stay  in 
Berlin.  Lord  Robert  Cecil  and  Lord  Newton  were  con- 
tinually working  for  the  benefit  of  British  prisoners. 

At  a  time  when  the  British  prisoners  were  without 
proper  clothing,  the  British  Government  sent  me  uni- 
forms, overcoats,  etc.,  and  1  hired  a  warehouse  in  Berlin 
as  a  distributing  point;  but,  after  some  months,  the  Ger- 
man authorities  refused  to  allow  me  to  continue  this 
method  of  distribution  on  the  ground  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  Germany  to  provide  the  prisoners  with  clothes.  But 
Germany  was  not  pertorming  this  duty  and  the  British 
prisoners  had  to  suffer  because  of  this  German  official 
woodenheadedness. 

In  the  spring  of  19 16,  quite  characteristically,  the  Ger- 
mans broke  their  "treaty"  concerning  visits  to  prisoners, 
and  refused  to  permit  us  to  speak  to  prisoners  out  of 
hearing.  Von  Jagow  told  me  that  this  was  because  of 
the  trouble  made  among  Russian  prisoners  by  the  visits 
of  Madam  Sazonoff,  but  this  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
arrangement  between  Great  Britain  and  Germany. 

I  think  that  the  Germans  suspected  that  I  had  learned 
from  fellow  prisoners  of  the  cruel  and  unnecessary  shoot- 
ing of  two  Irish  prisoners  at  Limburg.  It  was  not  from 
prisoners,  however,  that  I  obtained  this  information,  but 
from  Germans  who  wrote  to  me. 

In  addition  to  the  British  and  Japanese,  I  had  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Serbian  and  Roumanian  subjects  and  the 
protection  of  the  interests  of  a  very  small  country,  the 
Republic  of  San  Marino.  Soon  after  the  Serbians  and 
Roumanians  appeared  in  the  prison  camps  of  Germany 
we  made  reports  on  the  condition  and  treatment  of  these 
prisoners,  as  well  as  reports  concerning  the  British. 

I  was  able  to  converse  with  some  Serbians,  in  the  first 
days  of  the  war,  in  their  nati\-e  tongue,  which,  curiously 
enough,  was  Spanish.  Immediately  after  the  persecu- 
tion of  the  Jews  in  Spain  by  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  and 


146        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

other  monarchs,  a  number  of  Spanish  Jews  emigrated  to 
Serbia  where  they  have  remained  ever  since,  keeping  their 
old  customs  and  speaking  the  old  Spanish  of  the  time  of 
Cervantes. 

The  German  authorities,  in  the  most  petty  manner, 
often  concealed  from  me  the  presence  of  British  prisoners, 
especially  civilians,  in  prison  camps.  For  a  long  time  I 
was  not  informed  of  the  presence  of  British  civilians  in 
Sennelager  and  it  was  only  by  paying  a  surprise  visit  by 
motor  to  the  camp  at  Brandenburg  that  I  discovered  a 
few  British,  the  crew  of  a  trawler,  there.  It  was  on  in- 
formation contained  in  an  anonymous  letter,  evidently 
from  the  wife  of  some  German  officer,  that  I  visited  Bran- 
denburg where  the  crew  of  this  trawler,  deprived  of 
money,  were  without  any  of  the  little  comforts  or  pack- 
ages that  mitigate  life  in  a  German  prison  camp. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FIRST   DAYS    OF   THE    WAR:    POLITICAL    AND    DIPLOMATIC 

AT  the  commencement  of  the  war  for  some  days  I 
was  cut  off  from  communication  vv'ith  the  United 
States;  but  we  soon  established  a  chain  of  communica- 
tion, at  first  through  Italy  and  later  by  way  of  Denmark. 
At  all  times  cables  from  Washington  to  Berlin,  or  vice 
versa,  took,  on  the  average,  two  days  in  transmission. 

After  the  fall  of  Liege,  von  Jagow  sent  for  me  and 
asked  me  if  I  would  transmit  through  the  American  Le- 
gation a  proposition  offering  Belgium  peace  and  indem- 
nity if  no  further  opposition  were  made  to  the  passage 
of  German  troops  through  Belgium.  As  the  proposition 
was  a  proposition  for  peace,  I  took  the  responsibility  of 
forwarding  it  and  sent  the  note  of  the  German  Govern- 
ment to  our  Minister  at  the  Hague  for  transmission  to  our 
Minister  in  Belgium. 

Dr.  Van  Dyke,  our  Minister  at  the  Hague,  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  transmission  of  this  prop- 
osition and  turned  the  German  note  over  to  the  Holland 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  through  this  channel 
the  proposition  reached  the  Belgian  Government. 

The  State  Department  cabled  me  a  message  from  the 
President  to  the  Emperor  which  stated  that  the  United 
States  stood  ready  at  any  time  to  mediate  between  the 
warring  powers,  and  directed  me  to  present  this  proposi- 
tion direct  to  the  Emperor. 

I,  therefore,  asked  for  an  audience  with  the  Emperor 
and  received  word  from  the  chief  Court  Marshal  that 
the  Emperor  would  receive  me  at  the  palace  in  Berlin 

147 


148        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

on  the  morning  of  August  tenth.  I  drove  in  a  motor  into 
the  courtyard  of  the  palace  and  was  there  escorted  to 
the  door  which  opened  on  a  flight  of  steps  leading  to  a 
little  garden  about  fifty  yards  square,  directly  on  the  em- 
bankment of  the  River  Spree,  which  flows  past  the  Royal 
Palace.  As  I  went  down  the  steps,  the  Empress  and  her 
only  daughter,  the  Duchess  of  Brunswiclc,  came  up.  Both 
stopped  and  shook  hands  with  me,  speaking  a  few  words. 
I  found  the  Emperor  seated  at  a  green  iron  table  under 
a  large  canvas  garden  umbrella.  Telegraph  forms  were 
scattered  on  the  table  in  front  of  him  and  basking  in  the 
gravel  were  two  small  dachshunds.  I  explained  to  the 
Emperor  the  object  of  my  visit  and  we  had  a  general  con- 
versation about  the  war  and  the  state  of  affairs.  The 
Emperor  took  some  of  the  large  telegraph  blanks  and 
wrote  out  in  pencil  his  reply  to  the  President's  offer.* 
This  reply,  of  course,  I  cabled  immediately  to  the  State 
Department. 

For  the  President  of  the 

United  States  personally : 

lo/VIII  14. 

1.  H.  R.  H.  Prince  Henry  was  received  by  his  Majesty  King 
George  V  in  London,  who  empowered  him  to  transmit  to  me 
verbally,  that  England  would  remain  neutral  if  war  broke  out  on 
the  Continent  involving  Germany  and  France,  Austria  and  Russia. 
This  message  was  telegraphed  to  me  by  my  brother  from  London 
after  his  conversation  with  H.  M.  the  King,  and  repeated  verbally 
on  the  twenty-ninth  of  July. 

2.  My  Ambassador  in  London  transmitted  a  message  from 
Sir  E.  Grey  to  Berlin  saying  that  only  in  case  France  was  likely 
to  be  crushed  England  would  interfere. 

3.  On  the  thirtieth  my  Ambassador  in  London  reported  that 
Sir  Edward  Grey  in  course  of  a  "private"  conversation  told  him 
that  if  the  conflict  remained  localized  between  Russia — not  Serbia 
— and  Austria,  England  would  not  move,  but  if  we  "mixed"  in  the 
fray  she  would  take  quick  decisions  and  grave  measures;  i.  e.,  if  I 

*See  facsimile,  page  433. 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  149 

left  my  ally  Austria  in  the  lurch  to  fight  alone  England  would  not 
touch  me. 

4.  This  communication  being  directly  counter  to  the  King's 
message  to  me,  I  telegraphed  to  H.  M.  on  the  twenty-ninth  or 
thirtieth,  thanking  him  for  kind  messages  through  my  brother  and 
begging  him  to  use  all  his  power  to  keep  France  and  Russia — his 
Allies — from  making  any  war-like  preparations  calculated  to  dis- 
turb my  work  of  mediation,  stating  that  I  was  in  constant  com- 
munication with  H.  M.  the  Czar.  In  the  evening  the  King  kindly 
answered  that  he  had  ordered  his  Government  to  use  every  possi- 
ble influence  with  his  Allies  to  refrain  from  taking  any  provocative 
military  measures.  At  the  same  time  H.  M.  asked  me  if  I  would 
transmit  to  Vienna  the  British  proposal  that  Austria  was  to  take 
Belgrade  and  a  few  other  Serbian  towns  and  a  strip  of  country 
as  a  "main-mise"  to  make  sure  that  the  Serbian  promises  on  paper 
should  be  fulfilled  in  reality.  This  proposal  was  in  the  same  mo- 
ment telegraphed  to  me  from  Vienna  for  London,  quite  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  British  proposal;  besides,  I  had  telegraphed  to  H.  M. 
the  Czar  the  same  as  an  idea  of  mine,  before  I  received  the  two 
communications  from  Vienna  and  London,  as  both  were  of  the 
same  oponion. 

5.  I  immediately  transmitted  the  telegrams  vice  versa  to  Vienna 
and  London.  I  felt  that  I  was  able  to  tide  the  question  over  and 
was  happy  at  the  peaceful  outlook. 

6.  While  I  was  preparing  a  note  to  H.  IVI.  the  Czar  the  next 
morning,  to  inform  him  that  V^ienna,  London  and  Berlin  were 
agreed  about  the  treatment  of  affairs,  I  received  the  telephones 
from  H.  E.  the  Chancellor  that  in  the  night  before  the  Czar  had 
given  the  order  to  mobilize  the  whole  of  the  Russian  army,  which 
was,  of  course,  also  meant  against  Germany;  whereas  up  till  then 
the  southern  armies  had  been  mobilized  against  Austria. 

7.  In  a  telegram  from  London  my  Ambassador  informed  me 
he  understood  the  British  Government  would  guarantee  neutrality 
of  France  and  wished  to  know  whether  Germany  would  refrain 
from  attack.  I  telegraphed  to  H,  M.  the  King  personally  that 
mobilization  being  already  carried  out  could  not  be  stopped,  but 
if  H.  IVL  could  guarantee  with  his  armed  forces  the  neutrality  of 
France  I  would  refrain  from  attacking  her,  leave  her  alone  and 
employ  my  troops  elsewhere.  H.  1\I.  answered  that  he  thought  my 
offer  was  based  on  a  misunderstanding;  and,  as  far  as  I  can  make 
out,  Sir  E.  Grey  never  took  my  ofifer  into  serious  consideration. 
He  never  answered  it.  Instead,  he  declared  England  had  to  de- 
fend Belgian  neutrality,  which  had  to  be  violated  by  Germany  on 


ISO        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

strategical  grounds,  news  having  been  received  that  France  was 
already  preparing  to  enter  Belgium,  and  the  King  of  Belgians  hav- 
ing refused  my  petition  for  a  free  passage  under  guarantee  of  his 
country's  freedom.    I  am  most  grateful  for  the  President's  message. 

William,  H.  R. 

When  the  German  Emperor  in  my  presence  indited 
his  letter  to  President  Wilson  of  August  tenth,  19 14, 
he  asked  that  I  cable  it  immediately  to  the  State  Depart- 
ment and  that  I  simultaneously  give  it  to  the  press.  As 
I  have  already  stated,  I  cabled  the  document  immediately 
to  the  State  Department  at  Washington,  but  I  withheld  it 
from  publication. 

My  interview  with  the  Emperor  was  in  the  morning. 
That  afternoon  a  man  holding  a  high  position  in  Ger- 
many sent  for  me.  I  do  not  give  his  name  because  I  do 
not  wish  to  involve  him  in  any  way  with  the  Emperor, 
so  I  shall  not  even  indicate  whether  he  is  a  royalty  or  an 
official.     He  said: 

"You  had  an  Interview  today  with  the  Emperor. 
What  happened?" 

I  told  of  the  message  given  me  for  the  President  which 
was  intended  for  publication  by  the  Emperor.     He  said: 

"I  think  you  ought  to  show  that  message  to  me;  you 
know  the  Emperor  is  a  constitutional  Emperor  and  there 
was  once  a  great  row  about  such  a  message." 

I  showed  him  the  message,  and  when  he  had  read  it 
he  said:  "I  think  it  would  be  inadvisable  for  us  to  have 
this  message  published,  and  in  the  interest  of  good  feel- 
ing between  Germany  and  America.  If  you  cable  it  ask 
that  publication  be  withheld." 

I  complied  with  his  request  and  it  is  characteristic  of  the 
President's  desire  to  preserve  good  relations  that  pub- 
lication was  withheld.  Now,  when  the  two  countries  are 
at  war;  when  the  whole  world,  and  especially  our  own 
country,  has  an  interest  in  knowing  how  this  great  calam- 
ity of  universal  war  came  to  the  earth,  the  time  has  come 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  151 

when  this  message  should  be  given  out  and  I  have  pub- 
lished it  by  permission. 

This  most  interesting  document  in  the  first  place  clears 
up  one  issue  never  really  obscure  in  the  eyes  of  the  world 
— the  deliberate  violation  of  the  neutrality  of  Belgium, 
whose  territory  "had  to  be  violated  by  Germany  on 
strategical  grounds."  The  very  weak  excuse  is  added 
that  "news  had  been  received  that  France  was  already 
preparing  to  enter  Belgium," — not  even  a  pretense  that 
there  had  ever  been  any  actual  violation  of  Belgium's 
frontier  by  the  French  prior  to  the  German  invasion  of 
that  unfortunate  country.  Of  course  the  second  excuse 
that  the  King  of  the  Belgians  had  refused  entrance  to  the 
Emperor's  troops  under  guarantee  of  his  country's  free- 
dom is  even  weaker  than  the  first.  It  would  indeed  in- 
augurate a  new  era  in  the  intercourse  of  nations  if  a  small 
nation  could  only  preserve  its  freedom  by  at  all  times, 
on  request,  granting  free  passage  to  the  troops  of  a  pow- 
erful neighbour  on  the  march  to  attack  an  adjoining  coun- 
try. 

And  aside  from  the  violation  of  Belgian  neutrality, 
what  would  have  become  of  Great  Britain  and  of  the 
world  if  the  Prussian  autocracy  had  been  left  free  to  de- 
feat— one  by  one — the  nations  of  the  earth?  First,  the 
defeat  of  Russia  and  Serbia  by  Austria  and  Germany, 
the  incorporation  of  a  large  part  of  Russia  in  the  German 
Empire,  German  influence  predominant  in  Russia  and  all 
the  vast  resources  of  that  great  Empire  at  the  command 
of  Germany.  All  the  fleets  in  the  world  could  uselessly 
blockade  the  German  coasts  if  Germany  possessed  the 
limitless  riches  of  the  Empire  of  the  Romanoffs. 

The  German  army  drawing  for  reserves  on  the  teem- 
ing populations  of  Russia  and  Serbia  would  never  know 
defeat.  And  this  is  not  idle  conjecture,  mere  dreaming  in 
the  realm  of  possibilities,  because  the  Russian  revolution 


152        MY  FOUR  YKARS  IN  GERMANY 

has  shown  us  how  weak  and  tottering  in  reahty  was  the 
dreaded  power  of  the  Czar. 

Russia,  beaten  and  half  digested,  France  would  have 
been  an  easy  prey,  and  Great  Britain,  even  if  then  joining 
France  in  war,  would  have  a  far  different  problem  to  face 
if  the  U-boats  were  now  sailing  from  Cherbourg  and 
Calais  and  Brest  and  Bordeaux  on  the  mission  of  piracy 
and  murder,'  and  then  would  come  our  turn  and  that  of 
Latin  America.  The  first  attack  would  come  not  on  us, 
but  on  South  of  Central  America — at  some  point  to  which 
it  would  be  as  difficult  for  us  to  send  troops  to  help  our 
neighbor  as  it  would  be  for  Germany  to  attack. 

Remember  that  in  Southern  Brazil  nearly  four  hun- 
dred thousand  Germans  are  sustained,  as  I  found  out, 
in  their  devotion  to  the  Fatherland  by  annual  grants  of 
money  for  educational  purposes  from  the  Imperial  treas- 
ury in  Berlin. 

It  was  not  without  reason  that  at  this  interview,  when 
the  Kaiser  wrote  this  message  to  the  President,  he  said 
that  the  coming  in  of  Great  Britain  had  changed  the  whole 
situation  and  would  make  the  war  a  long  one.  The 
Kaiser  talked  rather  despondently  about  the  war.  I 
tried  to  cheer  him  up  by  saying  the  German  troops  would 
soon  enter  Paris,  but  he  answered,  "The  British  change 
the  whole  situation — an  obstinate  nation — they  will  keep 
up  the  war.     It  cannot  end  soon." 

It  was  the  entry  of  Great  Britain  into  the  war,  in  de- 
fence of  the  rights  of  small  nations,  in  defence  of  the 
guaranteed  neutrality  of  Belgium,  which  saved  the  world 
from  the  harsh  dominion  of  the  conquest-hungry  Prus- 
sians and  therefore  saved  as  well  the  two  Americas  and 
their  protecting  doctrine  of  President  Monroe. 

The  document,  which  is  dated  August  tenth,  19 14, 
supersedes  the  statement  made  by  the  German  Chancellor 
von  Bethmann-Hollweg  in  his  speech  before  the  Reichstag 
on  August  fourth,   19 14,  in  which  he  gave  the  then  of- 


ALLEGED  DUM-DUM  BULLETS,  WHfCII   THE  GERMANS   rnCT-ARFP 
IAD  BEEN   FOUND  IN   LONGWY 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  153 

ficial  account  of  the  entrance  into  the  war  of  the  Central 
Empires.  It  will  be  noted  that  von  Bethmann-HoUweg 
insisted  that  France  began  the  war  in  the  sentence  read- 
ing: "There  were  bomb-throwing  fliers,  cavalry  patrols, 
invading  companies  In  the  Reichsland  (Alsace-Lorraine). 
Thereby  France,  although  the  condition  of  war  had  not 
yet  been  declared,  had  attacked  our  territory."  But  the 
Emperor  makes  no  mention  of  this  fact,  of  supreme  im- 
portance if  true,  in  his  writing  to  President  Wilson  six 
days  later. 

Quite  curiously,  at  this  time  there  was  a  belief  on  the 
part  of  the  Germans  that  Japan  would  declare  war  on  the 
Allies  and  range  herself  on  the  side  of  the  Central  Pow- 
ers. In  fact  on  one  night  there  was  a  friendly  demonstra- 
tion in  front  of  the  Japanese  Embassy,  but  these  hopes 
were  soon  dispelled  by  the  ultimatum  of  Japan  sent  on 
the  sixteenth  of  August,  and,  finally,  by  the  declaration 
of  war  on  August  twenty-third. 

During  the  first  days  of  the  war  the  warring  powers 
indulged  in  mutual  recriminations  as  to  the  use  of  dum- 
dum bullets  and  I  was  given  several  packages  of  car- 
tridges containing  bullets  bored  out  at  the  top  which  the 
Germans  said  had  been  found  in  the  French  fortress  of 
Longwy,  with  a  request  that  I  send  an  account  of  them 
to  President  Wilson  and  ask  for  his  intervention  in  the 
matter.  Very  wisely  President  Wilson  refused  to  do 
anything  of  the  kind,  as  otherwise  he  would  have  been 
deluged  with  constant  complaints  from  bo4:h  sides  as  to 
the  violations  of  the  rules  of  war. 

The  cartridges  given  to  me  were  in  packages  marked 
on  the  outside  "Cartouches  de  Stand"  and  from  this  I 
took  it  that  possibly  these  cartridges  had  been  used  on 
some  shooting  range  near  the  fort  and  the  bullets  bored 
out  in  order  that  they  might  not  go  too  far,  if  carelessly 
fired  over  the  targets. 

On  August  fifth,  with  our  Naval  Attache,  Commander 


154        MY  FOUR  lEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Walter  Gherardi,  I  called  upon  von  Tirpitz,  to  learn 
from  him  which  ports  be  considered  safest  for  the  ships 
to  be  sent  from  America  with  gold  for  stranded  Amer- 
icans.    He  recommended  Rotterdam. 

I  also  had  a  conversation  on  this  day  with  Geheimrat 
Letze  of  the  Foreign  Office  with  reference  to  the  prop- 
osition that  British  and  German  ships  respectively  should 
have  a  delay  of  until  the  fourteenth  of  August  in  which 
to  leave  the  British  or  German  ports  In  which  they 
chanced  to  be. 

The  second  week  In  August,  my  wife's  sister  and  her 
husband,  Count  Sigray,  arrived  In  Berlin.  Count  Sigray 
is  a  reserve  officer  of  the  Hungarian  Hussars  and  was  in 
Montana  when  the  first  rumours  of  war  came.  He  and 
his  wife  Immediately  started  for  New  York  and  sailed 
on  the  fourth  of  August.  They  landed  In  England,  and 
as  Great  Britain  had  not  yet  declared  war  on  Austria, 
they  were  able  to  proceed  on  their  journey.  With  them 
were  Count  George  Festetics  and  Count  Czlraki,  the 
former  from  the  Austrian  Embassy  in  London  and  the 
latter  from  that  In  Washington.  They  were  all  natur- 
ally very  much  excited  about  war  and  the  events  of 
their  trip. 

The  Hungarians  as  a  people  are  quite  like  Americans. 
They  have  agreeable  manners  and  are  able  to  laugh  in 
a  natural  way,  something  which  seems  to  be  a  lost  art  in 
Prussia.  Nearly  all  the  members  of  Hungarian  noble 
families  speak  English  perfectly  and  model  their  clothes, 
sports  and  country  life,  as  far  as  possible,  after  the 
British. 

The  thirteenth  saw  the  departure  of  our  first  special 
train  containing  Americans  bound  for  Holland.  I  saw 
the  Americans  off  at  the  Charlottenburg  station.  They 
all  departed  in  great  spirits  and  very  glad  of  an  oppor- 
tunity to  leave  Germany. 

I  had  some  negotiations  about  the  purchase  by  Amer- 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  155 

lea  or  Americans  of  the  ships  of  the  North  German  Lloyd, 
but  nothing  came  of  these  negotiations.  Trainloads  of 
Americans  continued  to  leave,  but  there  seemed  to  be  no 
end  to  the  Americans  coming  into  Berlin  from  all  direc- 
tions. 

On  August  twer:y-ninth,  Count  Szoegyeny,  the  Aus- 
trian Ambassador,  left  Berlin.  He  had  been  Ambas- 
sador there  for  twenty-two  years  and  I  suppose  because 
of  his  advancing  years  the  Austrian  Government  thought 
that  he  had  outlived  his  usefulness.  Quite  a  crowd  of 
Germans  and  diplomats  were  at  the  station  to  witness 
the  rather  sad  farewell.  His  successor  was  Prince  Ho- 
henlohe,  married  to  a  daughter  of  Archduke  Frederick. 
She  expressly  waived  her  right  to  precedence  as  a  royal 
highness,  and  agreed  to  take  only  the  precedence  given 
to  her  as  the  wife  of  the  Ambassador,  in  order  not  to 
cause  feeling  in  Berlin.  Prince  Hohenlohe,  a  rather 
easy-going  man,  who  had  been  most  popular  in  Russia 
and  Austria,  immediately  made  a  favourable  impression 
in  Berlin  and  successfully  occupied  the  difficult  position 
of  mediator  between  the  governments  of  Berlin  and 
Vienna. 

On  September  fourth  von  Bethmann-HoUweg  gave  me 
a  statement  to  give  to  the  reporters  in  which  he  attacked 
Great  Britain,  claiming  that  Great  Britain  did  not  desire 
the  friendship  of  Germany  but  was  moved  by  commercial 
jealousy  and  a  desire  to  crush  her;  that  the  efforts  made 
for  peace  had  failed  because  Russia,  under  all  circum- 
stances, was  resolved  upon  war;  and  that  Germany  had 
entered  Belgium  in  order  to  forestall  the  planned  French 
advance.  He  also  claimed  that  Great  Britain,  regardless 
of  consequences  to  the  white  race,  had  excited  Japan  to 
a  pillaging  expedition,  and  claimed  that  Belgian  girls  and 
women  had  gouged  out  the  eyes  of  the  wounded;  that 
officers  had  been  invited  to  dinner  and  shot  across  the 
table;  and  that  Belgian  women  had  cut  the  throats  of 


156        MY  POUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

soldiers  quartered  in  their  houses  while  they  were  asleep. 
The  Chancellor  concluded  by  saying,  in  this  statement, 
that  every  one  knows  that  the  German  people  is  not  capa- 
ble of  unnecessary  cruelty  or  of  any  brutality. 

We  were  fully  occupied  with  taking  care  of  the  British 
prisoners  and  interests,  the  Americans,  and  negotiations 
relating  to  commercial  questions,  and  to  getting  goods 
required  in  the  United  States  out  of  Germany,  when,  on 
October  seventh,  a  most  unpleasant  incident,  and  one 
which  for  some  time  caused  the  members  of  our  Embassy 
to  feel  rather  bitterly  toward  the  German  Foreign  office, 
took  place. 

A  great  number  of  British  civilians,  men  and  women, 
were  stranded  in  Berlin.  To  many  of  these  were  paid 
sums  of  money  in  the  form  of  small  allowances  on  behalf 
of  the  British  Government.  In  order  to  facilitate  this 
work,  we  placed  the  clerks  employed  in  this  distribution 
in  the  building  formerly  occupied  by  the  British  Consul 
in  Berlin.  Of  course,  the  great  crowds  of  Americans 
resorting  to  our  Embassy,  when  combined  with  the  crowds 
of  British,  made  it  almost  impossible  even  to  enter  the 
Embassy,  and  establishment  of  this  outlying  relief  station 
materially  helped  this  situation.  I  occupied  it,  and  em- 
ployed British  men  and  British  women  in  this  relief  work 
by  the  express  permission  of  the  Imperial  Foreign  Office, 
which  I  thought  it  wise  to  obtain  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
the  Germans  seemed  daily  to  become  more  irritable  and 
suspicious,  especially  after  the  Battle  of  the   Marne. 

On  the  night  of  October  second,  our  Second  Secretary, 
Harvey,  went  to  this  relief  headquarters  at  about  twelve 
o'clock  at  night,  and  was  witness  to  a  raid  made  by  the 
Berlin  police  on  this  establishment  of  ours.  The  men 
and  women  working  were  arrested,  and  all  books  and 
papers  which  the  police  could  get  at  were  seized  by  them. 
The  next  morning  I  went  around  to  the  place  and  on  talk- 
ing with  the  criminal  detectives  in  charge,  was  told  by 


FIRST  DAYS  OF  THE  WAR  157 

them  that  they  had  made  the  raid  by  the  orders  of  the 
Foreign  Office.  When  I  spoke  to  the  Foreign  Office  about 
this,  they  denied  that  they  had  given  directions  for  the 
raid  and  made  a  sort  of  half  apology.  The  raid  was  all 
the  more  unjustified  because  only  the  day  before  I  had  had 
a  conversation  with  the  Adjutant  of  the  Berlin  Kom- 
mandantur  and  told  him  that,  although  I  had  permission 
from  the  Foreign  Office,  I  thought  it  would  be  better  to 
dismiss  the  British  employed  and  employ  only  Americans 
or  Germans;  and  I  sent  round  to  my  friend,  Herr  von 
Gwinner,  head  of  the  Deutsche  Bank,  and  asked  him  to 
recommend  some  German  accountants  to  me. 

The  Kommandantur  is  the  direct  office  of  military  con- 
trol. When  the  Adjutant  heard  of  the  raid  he  was  almost 
as  indignant  as  I  was,  and  on  the  tenth  of  October  in- 
formed me  that  he  had  learned  that  the  raid  had  been 
made  on  the  joint  orders  of  the  Foreign  Office  and  von 
Tirpitz's  department. 

The  books  and  papers  of  an  Embassy,  including  those 
relating  to  the  affairs  of  foreign  nations  temporarily  in 
the  Embassy's  care,  are  universally  recognised  in  inter- 
national law  as  not  subject  to  seizure,  nor  did  the  fact 
that  I  was  carrying  on  this  work  outside  the  actual  Em- 
bassy building  have  any  bearing  on  this  point  so  long  as 
the  building  was  directly  under  my  control  and,  especially, 
as  the  only  work  carried  on  was  work  properly  in  my 
hands  in  my  official  capacity.  The  Foreign  Office  saw 
that  they  had  made  a  mistake,  but  at  Zimmermann's 
earnest  request  I  agreed,  as  it  were,  to  forget  the  incident. 
Later  on,  this  precedent  might  have  been  used  by  our 
government  had  they  desired  to  press  the  matter  of  the 
seizure  of  von  Igel's  papers.  Von  Igel,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, was  carrj'ing  on  business  of  a  private  nature  in 
a  private  office  hired  by  him.  Nevertheless,  as  he  had 
been  employed  in  some  capacity  in  the  German  Embassy 


158        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

at  Washington,  Count  von  Bernstorff  claimed  immunity 
from  seizure  for  the  papers  found  in  that  office. 

On  Auffust  sixteenth  the  Kaiser  left  Berlin  for  the  front. 
I  wrote  to  his  master  of  the  household,  saying  that  I 
should  like  an  opportunity  to  be  at  the  railway  station  to 
say  good-bye  to  the  Emperor,  but  was  put  off  on  various 
excuses.  Thereafter  the  Emperor  practically  abandoned 
Berlin  and  lived  either  in  Silesia,  at  Pless,  or  at  some 
place  near  the  Western  front. 

At  first,  foUov/ing  the  precedent  of  the  war  of  1870, 
the  more  important  members  of  the  government  followed 
the  Kaiser  to  the  front,  even  the  Chancellor  and  the 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  abandoning  their  offices  in 
Berlin.  Not  long  afterwards,  when  it  was  apparent  that 
the  war  must  be  carried  on  on  several  fronts  and  that  it 
was  not  going  to  be  the  matter  of  a  few  weeks  which  the 
Germans  had  first  supposed,  these  officials  returned  to 
their  offices  in  Berlin.  In  the  meantime,  however,  much 
confusion  had  been  caused  by  this  rather  ridiculous  effort 
to  follow  the  customs  of  the  war  of  1870. 

W^hen  von  Jagow,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was 
absent  at  the  Great  General  Headquarters,  the  diplomats 
remaining  behind  conducted  their  negotiations  with  Zim- 
mermann,  who  in  turn  had  to  transmit  everything  to  the 
Great  General  Headquarters. 

In  August,  there  were  apparently  rumours  afloat  in 
countries  outside  of  Germany  that  prominent  Socialists 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  had  been  shot.  The  State  De- 
partment cabled  me  to  find  out  whether  there  was  any 
truth  in  these  rumours,  with  particular  reference  to  Lieb- 
knecht  and  Rosa  Luxemburg. 

Liebknecht  is  a  lawyer  practicing  in  Berlin  and  so  I 
telephoned  him,  asking  him  to  come  and  see  me.  He 
did  so,  and,  of  course,  by  his  presence  verified  the  fact 
that  he  had  not  been  executed.  He  told  me  that  the  ru- 
mours as  to  the  treatment  of  the  Socialists  were  entirely 


FIRST  DAYS  OK  THE  WAR  159 

unfounded  and  said  that  he  had  no  objection  to  my  cabling 
a  statement  that  the  Socialists  were  opposed  to  Czarismus 
and  that  he  personally  had  confidence  in  the  German  army 
and  the  cause  of  the  German  people. 

Many  people  confuse  Liebknecht  with  his  father, 
now  dead.  Liebknecht,  the  son,  is  a  man  of  perhaps 
forty-three  years,  with  dark  bushy  hair  and  moustache 
and  wearing  eye-glasses,  a  man  of  medium  height  and 
not  at  all  of  strong  build.  In  the  numerous  interruptions 
made  by  him  during  the  debates  in  the  Reichstag,  during 
the  first  year  of  the  war,  his  voice  sounded  high  and  shrill. 
Of  course,  any  one  who  defies  the  heavy  hand  of  autoc- 
racy must  suffer  from  nervousness.  We  all  knew  that 
sooner  of  later  autocracy  would  "get"  Liebknecht,  and  its 
opportunity  came  when  he  appeared  in  citizen's  clothes 
at  an  attempted  mass-meeting  at  the  Potsdamerplatz. 
For  the  offence  of  appearing  out  of  uniform  after  being 
called  and  mobolized,  and  for  alleged  incitement  of  the 
people,  he  was  condemned  for  a  long  term  of  imprison- 
ment. One  can  but  admire  his  courage.  I  believe  that 
he  earns  his  living  by  the  practice  of  law  before  one  of  the 
minor  courts.  It  is  hard  to  say  just  what  role  he  will 
play  in  the  future.  It  is  probable  that  when  the  Socialists 
settle  down  after  the  war  and  think  things  over,  they  will 
consider  that  the  leadership  of  Scheidemann  has  been  too 
conservative;  that  he  submitted  too  readily  to  the  powers 
of  autocracy  and  too  easily  abandoned  the  program  of  the 
Socialists.  In  this  case,  Liebknecht  perhaps  will  be  made 
leader  of  the  Socialists,  and  it  is  within  the  bounds  of 
probability  that  Scheidemann  and  certain  of  his  party 
may  become  Liberals  rather  than  Socialists. 


CHAPTER  XII 

DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS 

IN  the  autumn  of  19 14,  the  rush  of  getting  the  Amer- 
icans out  of  Germany  was  over.  The  care  of  the 
British  civihans  was  on  a  business  basis  and  there  were 
comparatively  few  campj  of  prisoners  of  war.  Abso- 
lutely tired  by  working  every  day  and  until  twelve  at 
night,  I  went  to  Munich  for  a  two  weeks'  rest. 

On  February  fourth,  19 15,  Germany  announced  that 
on  February  eighteenth  the  blockade  of  Great  Britain 
through  submarines  would  commence. 

Some  very  peculiar  and  mysterious  negotiations  there- 
after ensued.  About  February  eighth,  an  American  who 
was  very  intimate  with  the  members  of  the  General  Staff 
came  to  me  with  a  statement  that  Germany  desirea  peace 
and  was  ready  to  open  negotiations  to  that  end.  It  was, 
however,  to  be  made  a  condition  of  these  peace  negotia- 
tions that  this  particular  American  should  go  to  Paris 
and  to  Petrograd  and  inform  the  governments  there  of  the 
overwhelming  strength  of  the  German  armies  and  of  their 
positions,  which  knowledge,  it  was  said,  he  had  obtained 
by  personally  visiting  both  the  fronts.  It  was  further 
intimated  that  von  Tirpitz  himself  was  anxious  that  peace 
should  be  concluded,  possibly  because  of  his  fear  that  the 
proposed  blockade  would  not  be  successful. 

Of  course,  I  informed  the  State  Department  of  these 
mysterious  manoeuvres. 

I  was  taken  by  back  stairways  to  a  mysterious  meet- 
ing with  von  Tirpitz  at  night  in  his  rooms  in  the  Navy 
Department.     When  I  was  alone  with  him,  however,  he 

160 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  i6i 

had  nothing  definite  to  say  or  to  offer;  if  there  was  any 
opportunity  at  that  time  to  make  peace  nothing  came  of 
it.  It  looked  somewhat  to  me  as  if  the  whole  idea  had 
been  to  get  this  American  to  go  to  Paris  and  Petrograd, 
certify  from  his  personal  observation  to  the  strength  of 
the  German  armies  and  position,  and  thereby  to  assist 
in  enticing  one  or  both  of  these  countries  to  desert  the 
allied  cause.  All  of  this  took  place  about  ten  days  before 
the  eighteenth  of  February,  the  time  named  for  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  blockade  of  Great  Britain. 

Medals  were  struck  having  the  head  of  von  Tirpitz 
on  one  side  and  on  the  other  the  words  "Gott  strafe  Eng- 
land," and  a  picture  of  a  sort  of  Neptune  assisted  by  a  sub- 
marine rising  from  the  sea  to  blockade  the  distant  Brit- 
ish coast. 

The  Ambassador  is  supposed  to  have  the  right  to  de- 
mand an  audience  with  the  Kaiser  at  any  time,  and  as 
there  were  matters  connected  with  the  treatment  of  pris- 
oners as  well  as  this  coming  submarine  warfare  which  I 
wished  to  take  up  with  him,  I  had  on  various  occasions 
asked  for  an  audience  with  him;  on  each  occasion  my  re- 
quest had  been  refused  on  some  excuse  or  other,  and  I 
was  not  even  permitted  to  go  to  the  railway  station  to 
bid  him  good-bye  on  one  occasion  when  he  left  for  the 
front. 

When  our  Military  Attache,  Major  Langhome,  left  in 
March,  19 15,  he  had  a  farewell  audience  with  the  Kaiser 
and  I  then  asked  him  to  say  to  the  Kaiser  that  I  had  not 
seen  him  for  so  long  a  time  that  I  had  forgotten  what  he 
looked  like.  Langhorne  reported  to  me  that  he  had 
given  his  message  to  the  Kaiser  and  that  the  Kaiser  said, 
"I  have  nothing  against  \lr.  Gerard  personally,  but  I 
will  not  see  the  Ambassador  of  a  country  which  furnishes 
arms  and  ammunition  to  the  enemies  of  Germany." 

Before  the  departure  of  Langhome,  I  had  succeeded 
in  getting  Germany  to  agree  that  six  American  army  of- 


i62        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ficers  might  visit  Germany  as  militai-y  observers.  When 
they  arrived,  I  presented  them  at  the  Foreign  Office,  etc., 
and  they  were  taken  on  trips  to  the  East  and  West  fronts. 

They  were  not  allowed  to  see  much,  and  their  request 
to  be  attached  to  a  particular  unit  was  refused.  Nearly 
everywhere  they  were  subject  to  insulting  remarks  or 
treatment  because  of  the  shipment  of  munitions  of  war  to 
the  Allies  from  America;  and  finally  after  they  had  been 
subjected  to  deliberate  insults  at  the  hands  of  several 
German  generals,  Mackensen  particularly  distinguishing 
himself,  the  United  States  Government  withdrew  them 
from  Germany, 

Colonel  (now  General)  Kuhn,  however,  who  was  of 
these  observers,  was  appointed  Military  Attache  in  place 
of  Major  Langhorne.  Speaking  German  fluently  and  act- 
ing with  great  tact,  he  managed  for  a  long  time  to  keep 
sufficiently  in  the  good  graces  of  the  Germans  to  be 
allowed  to  see  something  of  the  operations  of  the  various 
fronts.  There  came  a  period  in  191 6  when  he  was  no 
longer  invited  to  go  on  the  various  excursions  made  by 
the  foreign  military  attaches  and  finally  Major  Nicolai, 
the  general  intelligence  officer  of  the  Great  General  Head- 
quarters, sent  for  him  early  in  the  autumn  of  1916,  and 
informed  him  that  he  could  no  longer  go  to  any  of  the 
fronts.  Colonel  Kuhn  answered  that  he  was  aware  of 
this  already.  Major  Nicolai  said  that  he  gave  him  this 
Information  by  direct  order  of  General  Ludendorf,  that 
General  Ludendorf  had  stated  that  he  did  not  believe 
America  could  do  more  damage  to  Germany  than  she  had 
done  if  the  two  countries  were  actually  at  war,  and  that 
he  considered  that,  practically,  America  and  Germany 
were  engaged  in  hostilities.  On  this  being  reported  to 
Washington,  Colonel  Kuhn  was  quite  naturally  recalled. 

I  cannot  praise  too  highly  the  patience  and  tact  shown 
by  Colonel  Kuhn  in  dealing  with  the  Germans.  Although 
accused  in  the  German  newspapers  of  being  a  spy,  and 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  163 

otherwise  attacked,  he  kept  his  temper  and  observed  all 
that  he  could  for  the  benefit  of  his  own  country.  As  he 
had  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  Russian-Japanese 
war,  his  experiences  at  that  time,  coupled  with  his  ex- 
periences in  Germany,  make  him,  perhaps,  our  greatest 
American  expert  on  modern  war. 

It  was  with  the  greatest  pleasure  that  I  heard  from 
Secretary  Baker  that  he  had  determined  to  promote  Colo- 
nel Kuhn  to  the  rank  of  General  and  make  him  head 
of  our  War  College,  where  his  teachings  will  prove  of 
the  greatest  value  to  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 

Colonel  House  and  his  wife  arrived  to  pay  us  a  visit 
on  March  19,  19 15,  and  remained  until  the  twenty-eighth. 
During  this  period  the  Colonel  met  all  the  principal  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Government  and  many  men  of  in- 
fluence and  prominence  in  the  world  of  affairs,  such  as 
Herr  von  Gwinner,  head  of  the  Deutsche  Bank,  and  Dr. 
Walter  Rathenau,  who  succeeded  his  father  as  head  of 
the  Allgemeine  Elektricitats  Gesellschaft  and  hundreds 
of  other  corporations.  The  Colonel  dined  at  the  house 
of  Dr.  Solf,  the  Colonial  Minister,  and  lunched  with 
von  Gwinner. 

In  April,  negotiations  were  continued  about  the  sink- 
ing of  the  JVilUam  P.  Frye,  an  American  boat  loaded  with 
food  and  destined  for  Ireland.  The  American  Govern- 
ment on  behalf  of  the  owners  of  the  jyHliam  P.  Frye 
claimed  damages  for  the  boat.  Nothing  was  said  about 
the  cargo,  but  in  the  German  answer  it  was  stated  that 
the  cargo  of  the  jrUliam  P.  Frye  consisting  of  foodstuffs 
destined  for  an  armed  port  of  the  enemy  and,  therefore, 
presumed  to  be  destined  for  the  armed  forces  of  the 
enemy  was,  because  of  this,  contraband.  I  spoke  to  von 
Jagow  about  this  and  told  him  that  I  thought  that  possibly 
this  would  seem  to  amount  to  a  German  justification  of 
the  British  blockade  of  Germany.  He  said  that  this  note 
had  been  drawn  by  Director  Kriege  who  was  their  expert 


i64        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

on  international  law,  and  that  he  would  not  interfere  with 
Kriege's  work.  Of  course,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  all  food- 
stuffs shipped  to  Germany  would  have  to  be  landed  at 
some  armed  port,  and,  therefore,  according  to  the  con- 
tentions of  Germany,  these  would  be  supposed  to  be  des- 
tined to  the  armed  forces  of  the  enemy  and  become  con- 
traband of  war. 

At  international  law,  it  had  always  been  recognised  that 
private  individuals  and  corporations  have  the  right  to 
sell  arms  and  ammunitions  of  war  to  any  belligerent  and, 
in  the  Hague  Convention  held  in  1907,  this  right  was  ex- 
pressly ratified  and  confirmed.  This  same  Director  Kriege 
who  represented  Germany  at  this  Hague  Conference 
in  1907,  in  the  debates  on  this  point  said:  "The  neutral 
boats  which  engage  in  such  a  trade,  commit  a  violation 
of  the  duties  of  neutrality.  However,  according  to  a 
principle  generally  rec'ognised,  the  State  of  which  the 
boat  flies  the  flag  is  not  responsible  for  this  violation. 
The  neutral  States  are  not  called  upon  to  forbid  their 
subjects  a  commerce  which,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  belligerents,  ought  to  be  considered  as  unlawful." 
(Conference  International  de  la  Paix,  La  Haye,  15  Juin- 
18  Octobre  1907.    Vol.  Ill,  p.  859.) 

During  our  trouble  with  General  Huerta,  arms  and  am- 
munition for  Huerta's  forces  from  Germany  were  landed 
from  German  ships  in  Mexico.  During  the  Boer  war 
the  Germans,  who  openly  sympathised  with  the  Boers, 
nevertheless  furnished  to  Great  Britain  great  quantities 
of  arms  and  munitions,  expressly  destined  to  be  used 
against  the  Boers;  and  this,  although  it  was  manifest  that 
there  was  no  possibility  whatever  that  the  Boers  could 
obtain  arms  and  munitions  from  German  sources  during 
the  war.  For  instance,  the  firm  of  Eberhardt  in  Diissel- 
dorf  furnished  one  hundred  and  nine  cannon,  complete, 
with  wagons,  caissons  and  munitions,  etc.,  to  the  British 
which  were  expressly  designed  for  use  against  the  Boers. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  165 

At  one  time  the  Imperial  Foreign  Office  sent  me  a  for- 
mal note  making  reference  to  a  paragraph  in  former  Am- 
bassador Andrew  D,  White's  autobiography  with  refer- 
ence to  the  alleged  stoppage  in  a  German  port  of  a  boat 
laden  with  arms  and  ammunition,  for  use  against  the 
Americans  in  Cuba  during  the  Spanish  War.  Of  course, 
former  Ambassador  White  wrote  without  having  the 
Embassy  records  at  hand  and  those  records  show  that 
the  position  he  took  at  the  time  of  this  alleged  stoppage 
was  eminently  correct. 

The  files  show  that  he  wrote  the  letter  to  the  State 
Department  in  which  he  stated  that  knowledge  came  to 
him  of  the  proposed  sailing  of  this  ship,  but  he  did  not 
protest  because  he  had  been  advised  by  a  Naval  Attache 
that  the  United  States  did  not  have  the  right  to  interfere. 
The  Department  of  State  wrote  to  him  commending  his 
action  in  not  filing  any  protest  and  otherwise  interfering. 

It  seemed  as  if  the  German  Government  expressly  de- 
sired to  stir  up  hatred  against  America  on  this  issue  in 
order  to  force  the  American  Government  through  fear 
of  either  the  German  Government,  or  the  German-Amer- 
ican propagandists  at  home,  to  put  an  immediate  embargo 
on  the  export  of  these  supplies. 

In  the  autumn  of  19 14  Zimmermann  showed  me  a  long 
list  sent  him  by  ..ernstorff  showing  quantities  of  saddles, 
automobiles,  motor  trucks,  tires,  explosives,  foodstuffs 
and  so  on,  exported  from  America  to  the  Allies  and  in- 
timated that  this  traffic  had  reached  such  proportions 
that  it  should  be  stopped. 

In  February,  19 15,  in  the  official  Communique  of  the 
day  appeared  the  following  statement:  "Heavy  artillery 
fire  in  certain  sections  of  the  West  front,  mostly  with 
American  ammunition;"  and  in  April  in  the  official  Com- 
muniqiic  something  to  this  effect:  "Captured  French  ar- 
tillery officers  say  that  they  have  great  stores  of  American 
ammunition."  I  obtain  through  the  State  Department  in 


1 66        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Washington  a  statement  from  the  French  Ambassador 
certifying  that  up  to  that  time,  the  end  of  April,  19 15, 
no  shells  whatever  of  the  French  artillery  had  been  fur- 
nished from  America. 

Nothing,  however,  would  satisfy  the  Germans.  They 
seemed  determined  that  the  export  of  every  article, 
whether  of  food  or  munitions  which  might  prove  of  use 
to  the  Allies  In  the  war,  should  be  stopped.  Newspapers 
were  filled  with  bitter  attacks  upon  America  and  upon 
President  Wilson,  and  with  caricatures  referring  to  the 
sale  of  munitions. 

It  never  seemed  to  occur  to  the  Germans  that  we  could 
not  violate  the  Hague  Convention  in  order  to  change  the 
rules  of  the  game  because  one  party,  after  the  commence- 
ment of  hostilities,  found  that  the  rule  worked  to  his 
disadvantage.  Nor  did  the  Germans  consider  that  Amer- 
ica could  not  vary  Its  international  law  with  the  changing 
fortunes  of  war  and  make  one  ruling  when  the  Germans 
lost  control  of  the  sea  and  another  ruling  if  they  regained 
it. 

From  early  In  19 15  until  I  left  Germany,  I  do  not 
think  I  ever  had  a  conversation  with  a  German  without 
his  alluding  to  this  question.  Shortly  before  leaving 
Germany,  in  January,  1917,  and  after  had  learned  of 
the  probability  of  the  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine 
war,  at  an  evening  party  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Solf,  the 
Colonial  Minister,  a  large  German  who  turned  out  to 
be  one  of  the  Grand  Dukes  of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 
planted  himself  some  distance  away  from  me  and  ad- 
dressed me  in  German  saying,  "You  are  the  American 
/.abassador  and  I  want  to  tell  you  that  the  conduct  of 
Aii'^rlca  in  furnishing  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  ene- 
mies of  Germany  is  stamped  deep  on  the  German  heart, 
that  we  will  never  forget  it  and  will  some  day  have  our 
revenge."  He  spoke  in  a  voice  so  loud  and  slapped  his 
chest  so  hard  that  every  one  in  the  room  stopped  their 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  167 

conversation  in  order  to  hear.  He  wore  on  his  breast  the 
orders  of  the  Black  Eagle,  the  Red  Eagle,  the  Elephant 
and  the  Seraphim,  and  when  he  struck  all  this  menagerie 
the  rattle  alone  was  quite  loud.  I  reminded  him  politely 
of  the  Hague  Convention,  of  the  fact  that  we  could  not 
change  International  law  from  time  to  time  with  the 
change  in  the  situation  of  the  war,  and  that  Germany  had 
furnished  arms  to  England  to  use  against  the  Boers.  But 
he  simply  answered,  "We  care  nothing  for  treaties,"  and 
my  answer,  "That  is  what  they  all  say,"  was  a  retort  too 
obvious  to  be  omitted. 

The  German  press  continually  published  articles  to  the 
effect  that  the  war  would  be  finished  if  it  were  not  for  the 
shipment  of  supplies  from  America.  All  public  opinion 
was  with  the  German  Government  when  the  warning  was 
issued  on  February  fourth,  19 15,  stating  that  the  block- 
ade of  Great  Britain  would  commence  on  the  eighteenth 
and  warning  neutral  ships  to  keep  out  of  the  war  zone. 
From  then  on  we  had  constant  cases  and  crises  with  ref- 
erence to  the  sinking  of  American  boats  by  the  German 
submarine.  There  were  the  cases  of  the  Gulf  flight  and 
the  Ciishing  and  the  Falaba,  a  British  boat  sunk  without 
warning  on  which  Americans  were  killed. 

On  May  sixth,  191 5,  Director  Kriege  of  the  Foreign 
Office  asked  Mr.  Jackson  to  call  and  see  him,  and  told 
him  that  he  would  like  to  have  the  following  three  points 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  American  public: 

"i.  As  the  result  of  the  English  effort  to  stop  all 
foreign  commerce  with  Germany,  Germany  would  do 
everything  in  her  power  to  destroy  English  commerce 
and  merchant  shipping.  There  was,  however,  never 
at  any  time  an  Intention  to  destroy  or  Interfere  with 
neutral  commerce  or  to  attack  neutral  shipping  unless 
engaged  in  contraband  trade.  In  view  of  the  action 
of  the  British  Government  in  arming  merchant  vessels 


i68        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  causing  them  to  disguise  their  national  character, 
the  occasional  destruction  of  a  neutral  ship  was  un- 
avoidable. Naval  officers  in  command  of  submarines 
had  been  instructed  originally,  and  new  and  more 
stringent  instructions  had  been  issued  repeatedly,  to 
use  the  utmost  care,  consistent  with  their  own  safety, 
to  avoid  attacks  on  neutral  vessels. 

"2.  In  case  a  neutral  ship  should  be  destroyed  by  a 
submarine  the  German  Government  is  prepared  to 
make  an  immediate  and  formal  expression  of  its  regret 
and  to  pay  an  indemnity,  without  having  recourse  to 
a  prize  court. 

"3.  All  reports  with  regard  to  the  destruction  of  a 
neutral  vessel  by  a  German  submarine  are  investigated 
at  once  by  both  the  German  Foreign  Office  and  Ad- 
miralty, and  the  result  is  communicated  to  the  Gov- 
ernment concerned,  which  is  requested  in  return  to 
communicate  to  the  German  Government  the  result 
of  its  own  independent  investigation.  Where  there  is 
any  material  divergence  In  the  two  reports  as  to  the 
presumed  cause  of  destruction  (torpedo  ormine),  the 
question  is  to  be  submitted  to  investigation  by  a  com- 
mission composed  of  representatives  of  the  two  na- 
tions concerned,  with  a  neutral  arbiter  whose  decision 
will  be  final.  This  course  has  already  been  adopted  in 
two  cases,  in  which  a  Dutch  and  a  Norwegian  vessel, 
respectively,  were  concerned.  The  German  Govern- 
ment reserves  its  right  to  refuse  this  international  arbi- 
tration in  exceptional  cases  where  for  military  reasons 
the  German  Admiralty  are  opposed  to  its  taking  place." 

Director  Kriege  told  Mr.  Jackson  that  a  written  com- 
munication in  which  the  substance  of  the  foregoing  would 
be  contained,  would  soon  be  made  to  the  Embassy. 

Mr.  Jackson  put  this  conversation  down  in  the  form 
above  givea  and  showed  Director  Kriege  a  copy  of  it. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  169 

Later  in  the  day  Gehelmrat  Simon  called  on  Mr.  Jackson 
at  the  Embassy  and  said  that  Dr.  Kriege  would  like  to 
have  point  two  read  as  follows: 

"In  case  through  any  unfortunate  mistake  a  neutral 
ship,"  and  continuing  to  the  end;  and  that  Dr.  Kriege 
would  like  to  change  what  was  written  on  point  three 
beginning  with  "Where  there  is"  so  that  it  should  read, 
as  follows: — "Where  there  is  any  material  divergence 
in  the  two  reports  as  to  the  presumed  cause  of  de- 
struction (torpedo  or  mine),  the  German  Government 
has  already  in  several  instances  declared  its  readiness 
to  submit  the  question  to  the  decision  of  an  interna- 
tional commission  in  accordance  with  the  Hague  Con- 
vention for  the  friendly  settlement  of  international  dis- 
putes." 

This  had  been  suggested  by  Director  Kriege  in  case  it 
should  be  decided  to  make  a  communication  to  the  Amer- 
ican Press.  Mr.  Jackson  told  Geheimrat  Simon  that  he 
would  report  the  subject  of  his  conversation  to  me,  but 
that  it  would  depend  upon  me  whether  any  communication 
should  be  made  to  the  American  Government  or  to  the 
press  upon  the  subject. 

Of  course,  the  news  of  the  torpedoing  of  the  Lusitania 
on  May  seventh  and  of  the  great  loss  of  American  lives 
brought  about  a  very  critical  situation,  and  naturally  noth- 
ing was  done  with  Kriege's  propositions. 

It  is  unnecessary  here  for  me  to  go  into  the  notes  which 
were  exchanged  between  the  two  governments  because 
all  that  is  already  public  property. 

Sometime  after  I  had  delivered  our  lirst  Lusitania 
Note  of  May  i  ith,  19 15,  Zimmermann  was  lunching  with 
us.  A  good  looking  American  woman,  married  to  a  Ger- 
main, was  also  of  the  party  and  after  lunch  although  I 
was  talking  to  some  one  else  I  overheard  part  of  her  con- 


170        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

versation  with  Zimmermann.  When  Zimmermann  left 
I  asked  her  what  it  was  that  he  had  said  about  America, 
Germany,  Mr.  Bryan  and  the  Lusitania.  She  then  told 
me  that  she  had  said  to  Zimmermann  that  it  was  a  great 
pity  that  we  were  to  leave  Berlin  as  it  looked  as  if  diplo- 
matic relations  between  the  two  countries  would  be 
broken,  and  that  Zimmermann  told  her  not  to  worry  about 
that  because  they  had  just  received  word  from  the  Aus- 
trian Government  that  Dr.  Dumba,  the  Austrian  Ambas- 
sador in  Washington,  had  cabled  that  the  Lusitania  Note 
from  America  to  Germany  was  only  sent  as  a  sop  to  public 
opinion  in  America  and  that  the  government  did  not  really 
mean  what  was  said  in  that  note.  I  then  called  on  Zim- 
mermann at  the  Foreign  Office  and  he  showed  me  Dum- 
ba's  telegram  which  was  substantially  as  stated  above. 
Of  course,  I  immediately  cabled  to  the  State  Department 
and  also  got  word  to  President  Wilson.  The  rest  of  the 
incident  is  public  property.  I,  of  course,  did  not  know 
what  actually  occurred  between  Mr.  Bryan  and  Dr. 
Dumba,  but  I  am  sure  that  Dr.  Dumba  must  have  mis- 
understood friendly  statements  made  by  Mr.  Bryan. 

It  was  very  lucky  that  I  discovered  the  existence  of  this 
Dumba  cablegram  in  this  manner  which  savours  almost  of 
diplomacy  as  represented  on  the  stage.  If  the  Germans 
had  gone  on  in  the  belief  that  the  Lusitania  Note  was  not 
really  meant,  war  would  have  inevitably  resulted  at  that 
time  between  Germany  and  America,  and  it  shows  how 
great  events  may  be  shaped  by  heavy  luncheons  and  a 
pretty  woman. 

Before  this  time  much  indignation  had  been  caused  in 
Germany  by  the  fact  that  the  Lusitania  on  her  eastward 
voyage  from  New  York  early  in  February,  19 15,  had 
raised  the  American  flag  when  nearing  British  waters. 

Shortly  after  this  incident  had  become  known,  I  was 
at  the  Wintergarten,  a  large  concert  hall  in  Berlin,  with 
Grant  Smith,  First  Secretary  of  the  Embassy  at  Vienna 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  171 

and  other  members  of  my  staff.  We  naturally  spoke 
English  among  ourselves,  a  fact  which  aroused  the  ire  of 
a  German  who  had  been  drinking  heavily  and  who  was 
seated  in  the  next  box.  He  immediately  began  to  call  out 
that  some  one  was  speaking  English  and  when  told  by  one 
of  the  attendants  that  it  was  the  American  Ambassador, 
he  immediately  cried  in  a  loud  voice  that  Americans  were 
even  worse  than  English  and  that  the  Lusitauia  had  been 
flying  the  American  flag  as  protection  in  British  waters. 

The  audience,  however,  took  sides  against  him  and  told 
him  to  shut  up  and  as  I  left  the  house  at  the  close  of  the 
performance,  some  Germans  spoke  to  me  and  apologised 
for  his  conduct.  The  next  day  the  manager  of  the  Win- 
tergarten  called  on  me  also  to  express  his  regret  for  the 
occurrence. 

About  a  year  afterwards  I  was  at  the  races  one  day 
and  saw  this  man  and  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  mak- 
ing such  a  noise  at  the  Wintergarten.  He  immediately 
apologised  and  said  that  he  had  been  drinking  and  hoped 
that  I  would  forget  the  incident.  This  was  the  only  in- 
cident of  the  kind  which  occurred  to  me  during  all  the 
time  that  I  was  in  Germany. 

Both  before  and  after  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitauia,  the 
German  Foreign  Office  put  forward  all  kinds  of  proposals 
with  reference  to  American  ships  In  the  war  zone.  On 
one  afternoon,  ZImmermann,  who  had  a  number  of  these 
proposals  drnftcd  in  German,  showed  them  to  me  and  I 
wrote  down  the  English  translation  for  him  to  see  how 
it  would  look  in  English.  These  proposals  were  about 
the  sailing  from  America  of  what  might  be  called  certified 
ships,  the  ships  to  be  painted  and  striped  in  a  distinctive 
way,  to  come  from  certified  ports  at  certain  certified  times, 
America  to  agree  that  these  ships  should  carry  no  contra- 
band whatever.  All  these  proposals  were  sternly  rejected 
by  the  President. 

On  February  sixteenth,  the  German  answer  to  our  note 


172        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

of  February  tenth  had  announced  that  Germany  declined 
all  responsibility  for  what  might  happen  to  neutral  ships 
and,  in  addition,  announced  that  mines  would  be  allowed 
in  waters  surrounding  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  This 
note  also  contained  one  of  Zimmermann's  proposed  solu- 
tions, namely,  that  American  warships  should  convoy 
American  merchantmen. 

The  German  note  of  the  sixteenth  also  spoke  about  the 
great  traffic  in  munitions  from  the  United  States  to  the 
Allies,  and  contained  a  suggestion  that  the  United  States 
should  induce  the  Allies  to  adopt  the  Declaration  of  Lon- 
don and  admit  the  importation  not  only  of  food  but  also 
of  all  raw  materials  into  Germany. 

F'ebruary  twentieth  was  the  date  of  the  conciliatory 
note  addressed  by  President  Wilson  to  both  Great  Brit- 
ain and  Germany;  and  contained  the  suggestion  that  sub- 
marines should  not  be  employed  against  merchant  vessels 
of  any  nationality  and  that  food  should  be  allowed  to  go 
through  for  the  civil  population  of  Germany  consigned  to 
the  agencies  named  by  the  United  States  in  Germany, 
which  were  to  see  that  the  food  was  received  and  dis- 
tributed to  the  civil  population. 

In  the  meantime  the  mines  on  the  German  coast  had 
destroyed  two  American  ships,  both  loaded  with  cotton 
for  Germany;  one  called  the  Carib  and  the  other  the 
Evelyn. 

In  America,  Congress  refused  to  pass  a  law  to  put  it 
in  the  power  of  the  President  to  place  an  embargo  on  the 
export  of  munitions  of  war. 

In  April,  Count  Bernstorff  delivered  his  note  concern- 
ing the  alleged  want  of  neutrality  of  the  United  States, 
referring  to  the  numerous  new  industries  in  war  materi- 
als being  built  up  in  the  United  States,  stating,  "In  real- 
ity the  United  States  is  supplying  only  Germany's  ene- 
mies, a  fact  which  is  not  in  any  way  modified  by  the  theo- 
retical willingness  to  furnish  Germany  as  well." 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  173 

To  this  note,  Secretary  Bryan  In  a  note  replied  that  it 
was  Impossible,  In  view  of  the  indisputable  doctrines  of 
accepted  international  law,  to  make  any  change  in  our 
own  laws  of  neutrality  which  meant  unequally  affecting, 
during  the  progress  of  the  war,  the  relations  of  the 
United  States  with  the  various  nations  at  war;  and  that 
the  placing  of  embargoes  on  the  trade  In  arms  which  con- 
stituted such  a  change  would  be  a  direct  violation  of  the 
neutrality  of  the  United  States. 

But  all  these  negotiations,  reproaches  and  recrimina- 
tions were  put  an  end  to  by  the  torpedoing  of  the  Lusi- 
tania,  with  the  killing  of  American  women  and  civilians 
who  were  passengers  on  that  vessel. 

I  believed  myself  that  we  would  immediately  break 
diplomatic  relations,  and  prepared  to  leave  Germany. 
On  May  eleventh,  I  delivered  to  von  Jagow  the  Lusi- 
tania  Note,  which  after  calling  attention  to  the  cases  of 
the  sinking  of  American  boats,  ending  with  the  Lusitania, 
contained  the  statement,  "The  Imperial  German  Govern- 
ment will  not  expect  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
to  omit  any  word  or  any  act  necessary  to  the  sacred  duty 
of  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  United  States  and  its 
citizens  and  of  safeguarding  their  free  exercises  and  en- 
joyments." 

During  this  period  I  had  constant  conversations  with 
von  Jagow  and  ZImmermann,  and  It  was  during  the  con- 
versations about  this  submarine  warfare  that  ZImmer- 
mann on  one  occasion  said  to  me:  "The  United  States 
does  not  dare  to  do  anything  against  Germany  because 
we  have  five  hundred  thousand  German  reservists  in 
America  who  will  rise  In  arms  against  your  government 
if  your  government  should  dare  to  take  any  action  against 
Gennany."  As  he  said  this,  he  worked  himself  up  to  a 
passion  and  repeatedly  struck  the  table  with  his  fist.  I 
told  him  that  we  had  five  hundred  and  one  thousand  lamp 
posts  in  America,  and  that  was  where  the  German  reserv- 


174        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ists  would  find  themselves  if  they  tried  any  uprising;  and 
I  also  called  his  attention  to  the  fact  that  no  German- 
Americans  making  use  of  the  American  passports  which 
they  could  easily  obtain,  were  sailing  for  Germany  by  way 
of  Scandinavian  countries  in  order  to  enlist  in  the  Ger- 
man army.  I  told  him  that  if  he  could  show  me  one 
person  with  an  American  passport  who  had  come  to  fight 
in  the  German  army  I  might  more  readily  believe  what 
he  said  about  the  Germans  in  America  rising  in  revolution. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  during  the  whole  course  of  the 
war,  I  knew  of  only  one  man  with  American  citizenship 
who  enlisted  in  the  German  army.  This  was  an  Amer- 
ican student  then  in  Germany  who  enlisted  in  a  German 
regiment.  His  father,  a  business  man  in  New  York, 
cabled  me  asking  me  to  have  his  son  released  from  the 
German  army;  so  I  procured  the  discharge  of  the  young 
man  who  immediately  wrote  to  me  and  informed  me  that 
he  was  over  twenty-one,  and  that  he  could  not  see  what 
business  his  father  had  to  interfere  with  his  military  ambi- 
tions. I  thereupon  withdrew  my  request  with  reference 
to  him,  but  he  had  already  been  discharged  from  the 
army.  When  his  regiment  went  to  the  West  front  he 
stowed  away  on  the  cars  with  it,  was  present  at  the  at- 
tack on  Ypres,  and  was  shot  through  the  body.  He  re- 
covered in  a  German  hospital,  received  the  Iron  Cross, 
was  discharged  and  sailed  for  America.  What  has  since 
become  of  him  I  do  not  know. 

I  do  not  intend  to  go  in  great  detail  into  this  ex- 
change of  notes  and  the  public  history  of  the  submarine 
controversy,  as  all  that  properly  belongs  to  the  history 
of  the  war  rather  than  to  an  account  of  my  personal  ex- 
periences; and  besides,  as  Victor  Hugo  said,  "History  is 
not  written  with  a  microscope."  All  will  remember  the 
answer  of  Germany  to  the  American  Liisitania  Note, 
which  answer,  delivered  on  May  twenty-ninth,  contained 
the  charge  that  the  Ltisitania  was  armed  and  carried  mu- 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  175 

nitions,  and  had  been  used  in  the  transport  of  Canadian 
troops.  In  the  meantime,  however,  the  American  ship, 
Nehraskan,  had  been  torpedoed  off  the  coast  of  Ireland 
on  the  twenty-sixth;  and,  on  May  twenty-eighth,  Ger- 
many stated  that  the  American  steamer.  Gulf  flight,  had 
been  torpedoed  by  mistake,  and  apologised  for  this  act. 

Von  Jagow  gave  me,  about  the  same  time,  a  Note  re- 
questing that  American  vessels  should  be  more  plainly 
marked  and  should  illuminate  their  marking  at  night. 

The  second  American  Liisitania  Note  was  published 
on  June  eleventh,  191 5;  and  its  delivery  was  coincident 
with  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Bryan  as  Secretary  of  State. 
In  this  last  Note  President  Wilson  (for,  of  course,  it  is 
an  open  secret  that  he  was  the  author  of  these  Notes) 
made  the  Issue  perfectly  plain,  referring  to  the  torpedo- 
ing of  enemy  passenger  ships.  "Only  her  actual  resist- 
ance to  capture  or  refusal  to  stop  when  ordered  to  do  so 
for  the  purpose  of  visit  could  have  afforded  the  com- 
mander of  the  submarine  any  justification  for  so  much  as 
putting  the  lives  of  those  on  board  the  ship  in  jeopardy." 
On  July  eighth  the  German  answer  to  this  American 
Lusitama  Note  was  delivered,  and  again  stated  that  "we 
have  been  obliged  to  adopt  a  submarine  war  to  meet  the 
declared  intentions  of  our  enemies  and  the  method  of 
warfare  adopted  by  them  in  contravention  of  international 
law."  Again  referring  to  the  alleged  fact  of  the  Liisi- 
tania's  carrying  munitions  they  said:  "If  the  Ltisitania 
had  been  spared,  thousands  of  cases  of  munitions  would 
have  been  sent  to  Germany's  enemies  and  thereby  thou- 
sands of  German  mothers  and  children  robbed  of  bread- 
winners." The  Note  then  contained  some  of  Zimmer- 
mann's  favourite  proposals,  to  the  effect  that  German 
submarine  commanders  would  be  instructed  to  permit  the 
passage  of  American  steamers  marked  in  a  special  way 
and  of  whose  sailing  they  had  been  notified  in  advance, 
provided  that  the  American  Government  guaranteed  that 


176        MY  FOUR  YEARS  LN  GERMANY 

these  vessels  did  not  carry  contraband  of  war.  It  was 
also  suggested  that  a  number  of  neutral  vessels  should  be 
added  to  those  sailing  under  the  American  flag,  to  give 
greater  opportunity  for  those  Americans  who  were  com- 
pelled to  travel  abroad,  and  the  Note's  most  important 
part  continued:  "In  particular  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment is  unable  to  admit  that  the  American  citizens  can 
protect  an  enemy  ship  by  mere  fact  of  their  presence  on 
board." 

July  twenty-first,  the  American  Government  rejected 
the  proposals  of  Germany  saying,  "The  lives  of  noncom- 
batants  may  in  no  case  be  put  in  jeopardy  unless  the  ves- 
sel resists  or  seeks  to  escape  after  being  summoned  to 
submit  to  examination,"  and  disposed  of  the  claim  that 
the  acts  of  Great  Britain  gave  Germany  the  right  to  re- 
taliate, even  though  American  citizens  should  be  deprived 
of  their  lives  in  the  course  of  retaliation  by  stating:  "For 
a  belligerent  act  of  retaliation  is  per  se  an  act  beyond  the 
law,  and  the  defense,  of  an  act  as  retaliatory,  is  an  ad- 
mission that  it  is  illegal."  Continuing  it  said:  "If  a 
belligerent  cannot  retaliate  against  an  enemy  without  in- 
juring the  lives  of  neutrals,  as  well  as  their  property,  hu- 
manity, as  well  as  justice  and  a  due  regard  for  the  dig- 
nity of  neutral  powers,  should  dictate  that  the  practice 
be  discontinued." 

It  was  also  said:  "The  United  States  cannot  believe 
that  the  Imperial  Government  will  longer  refrain  from 
disavowing  the  wanton  act  of  its  naval  commander  in 
sinking  the  Lusitania  or  from  offering  reparation  for  the 
American  lives  lost,  so  far  as  reparation  can  be  made  for 
the  needless  destruction  of  human  life  by  an  illegal  act." 
And  the  meat  of  the  Note  was  contained  in  the  following 
sentence.  "Friendship  itself  prompts  it  (the  United 
States)  to  say  to  the  Imperial  Government  that  repeti- 
tion by  the  commanders  of  German  naval  vessels  of  acts 
in  contravention  of  those  rights  must  be  regarded  by  the 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  177 

Government  of  the  United  States,  when  they  affect  Amer- 
ican citizens,  as  being  dehberately  unfriendly." 

There  the  matter  has  remained  so  far  as  the  Iaisi- 
tania  was  concerned  until  now.  In  the  meantime,  the  at- 
tack of  the  American  ship,  N ebraskan,  was  disavowed; 
the  German  Note  stating  that  "the  torpedo  was  not 
meant  for  the  American  flag  and  Is  to  be  considered  an 
unfortunate  accident." 

The  diplomatic  situation  with  regard  to  the  use  of  the 
submarine  and  the  attack  on  many  merchant  ships  with- 
out notice  and  without  putting  the  passengers  In  safety 
was  still  unsettled  when  on  August  nineteenth,  19 15,  the 
British  ship  Arabic,  was  torpedoed,  without  warning,  not 
far  from  the  place  where  the  Lusitania  had  gone  down. 
Two  Americans  were  among  the  passengers  killed. 

The  German  Government,  after  the  usual  quibbling, 
at  length.  In  its  Note  of  September  seventh,  claimed  that 
the  Captain  of  the  German  submarine,  while  engaged  in 
preparing  to  sink  the  Dunsley,  became  convinced  that  the 
approaching  Arabic  was  trying  to  ram  him  and,  there- 
fore, fired  his  torpedo.  The  Imperial  Government  re- 
fused to  admit  any  liability  but  offered  to  arbitrate. 

There  followed  almost  Immediately  the  case  of  the  An- 
cona,  sunk  by  a  submarine  flying  the  Austrian  flag.  This 
case  was  naturally  out  of  my  jurisdiction,  but  formed  a 
link  in  the  chain,  and  then  came  the  sinking  of  the  Persia 
in  the  Mediterranean.  On  this  boat  our  consul  to  Aden 
lost  his  life. 

In  the  Note  of  Count  Bernstorff  to  Secretary  Lansing, 
dated  September  first,  19 15,  Count  Bernstorff  said  that 
liners  would  not  be  sunk  by  German  submarines  without 
warning,  and  without  putting  the  passengers  In  safety, 
provided  that  the  liners  did  not  try  to  escape  or  offer 
resistance;  and  it  was  further  stated  that  this  policy  was 
in  effect  before  the  sinking  of  the  Arabic. 

There  were  long  negotiations  during  this  period  con- 


178        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

cerning  the  Arabic.  At  one  time  it  looked  as  if  diplo- 
matic relations  would  be  broken;  but  finally  the  Imperial 
Government  consented  to  acknowledge  that  the  subma- 
rine commander  had  been  wrong  in  assuming  that  the 
Arabic  intended  to  ram  his  boat,  offered  to  pay  an  in- 
demnity and  disavowed  the  act  of  the  commander.  It 
was  stated  that  orders  so  precise  had  been  given  to  the 
submarine  commanders  that  a  "recurrence  of  incidents 
similar  to  the  Arabic  is  considered  out  of  the  question." 

In  the  same  way  the  Austrian  Government  gave  way 
to  the  demands  of  America  in  the  Ancona  case  at  the  end 
of  December,  19 15.  Ambassador  Penfield,  in  Austria, 
won  great  praise  by  his  admirable  handling  of  this  case. 

The  negotiations  as  to  the  still  pending  Liisitania  case 
were  carried  on  in  Washington  by  Count  Bernstorff  and 
Secretary  Lansing,  and  finally  Germany  offered  to  pay  an 
indemnity  for  the  death  of  the  Americans  on  the  Lusi- 
tania  whose  deaths  Germany  "greatly  regretted,"  but  re- 
fused to  disavow  the  act  of  the  submarine  commander  in 
sinking  the  Lusitania  or  to  admit  that  such  act  was  il- 
legal. 

About  this  time  our  State  Department  sent  out  a  Note 
proposing  in  effect  that  submarines  should  conform  to 
"cruiser"  warfare,  only  sinking  a  vessel  which  defended 
Itself  or  tried  to  escape,  and  that  before  sinking  a  vessel 
its  passengers  and  crew  should  be  placed  in  safety;  and 
that,  on  the  other  hand,  merchant  vessels  of  belligerent 
nationality  should  be  prohibited  from  carrying  any  arma- 
ments whatever.     This  suggestion  was  not  followed  up. 

Zimmermann  (not  the  one  in  the  Foreign  Office) 
wrote  an  article  in  the  Lokal  Anzeiger  of  which  he  is  an 
editor,  saying  that  the  United  States  had  something  on 
their  side  in  the  question  of  the  export  of  munitions.  I 
heard  that  von  Kessel,  commander  of  the  Mark  of  Bran- 
denburg said  that  he,  Zimmermann,  ought  to  be  shot  as 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  179 

a  traitor.  Zimmermann  hearing  of  this  made  von  Kessel 
apologise,  but  was  shortly  afterwards  mobilised. 

Colonel  House  had  arrived  in  Germany  at  the  end  of 
January,  19 16,  and  remained  only  three  days.  He  was 
quite  worried  by  the  situation  and  by  an  interview  he  had 
had  with  Zimmermann  in  which  Zimmermann  expressed 
the  readiness  of  Germany  to  go  to  war  Avith  the  United 
States. 

In  February,  19 16,  the  Junkers  in  the  Prussian  Lower 
House  started  a  fight  against  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  and 
discussed  submarine  war,  a  matter  out  of  their  province. 
The  Chancellor  hit  back  at  them  hard  and  had  the  best 
of  the  exchange.  At  this  period  it  was  reported  that  the 
Emperor  went  to  Wilhelmshafen  to  warn  the  subma- 
rine commanders  to  be  careful. 

About  March  first  it  was  reported  that  a  grand  council 
of  war  was  held  at  Charleville  and  that  in  spite  of  the 
support  of  von  Tirpitz  by  Falkenhayn,  the  Chief  of  Staff, 
von  Bethmann-Hollweg  was  supported  by  the  Emperor, 
and  once  more  beat  the  propositions  to  recommence  ruth- 
less submarine  war. 

In  March  too,  the  "illness"  of  von  Tirpitz  was  an- 
nounced, followed  shortly  by  his  resignation.  On  March 
nineteenth,  his  birthday,  a  demonstration  was  looked  for 
and  I  saw  many  police  near  his  dwelling,  but  nothing 
unusual  occurred. 

I  contemplated  a  trip  to  America,  but  both  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg and  von  Jagow  begged  me  not  to  go. 

From  the  time  of  the  Lusitnnia  sinking  to  that  of  the 
Sussex  all  Germany  was  divided  into  two  camps.  The 
party  of  the  Chancellor  tried  to  keep  peace  with  Amer- 
ica and  did  not  want  to  have  Germany  branded  as  an  out- 
law among  nations.  Von  Tirpitz  and  his  party  of  naval 
and  military  officers  called  for  ruthless  submarine  war, 
and  the  Conservatives,  angry  with  Bethmann-Hollweg 
because  of  his  proposed  concession  as  to  the  extension  of 


i8o        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

the  suffrage,  joined  the  opposition.  The  reception  of  our 
last  Lusitania  Note  In  July,  19 15,  was  hostile  and  I  was 
accused  of  being  against  Germany,  although,  of  course, 
I  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  preparation  of  this  Note. 

In  August,  19 1 5,  the  deputies  representing  the  great 
industrials  of  Germany  joined  In  the  attack  on  the  Chan- 
cellor. These  men  wished  to  keep  Northern  France  and 
Belgium,  because  they  hoped  to  get  possession  of  the  coal 
and  iron  deposits  there  and  so  obtain  a  monopoly  of  the 
iron  and  steel  trade  of  the  continent.  Accelerators  of 
public  opinion,  undoubtedly  hired  by  the  Krupp  firm,  were 
hard  at  work.  These  Annexationists  were  opposed  by  the 
more  reasonable  men  who  signed  a  petition  against  the 
annexation  of  Belgium.  Among  the  signers  of  this  reason- 
able men's  petition  were  Prince  Hatzfeld  (Duke  of 
Trachenberg)  head  of  the  Red  Cross,  Dernburg,  Prince 
Henkel  Donnersmarck,  Professor  Delbriick,  von  Har- 
nack  and  many  others. 

The  rage  of  the  Conservatives  at  the  Arabic  settle- 
ment knew  no  bounds,  and  after  a  bitter  article  had  ap- 
peared in  the  Tageszeitung  about  the  Arabic  affair,  that 
newspaper  was  suppressed  for  some  days, — a  rather  un- 
expected showing  of  backbone  on  the  part  of  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg.  Reventlow  who  wrote  for  this  news- 
paper Is  one  of  the  ablest  editorial  writers  in  Germany. 
An  ex-naval  officer,  he  is  bitter  In  his  hatred  of  America. 
It  was  said  that  he  once  lived  in  America  and  lost  a  small 
fortune  in  a  Florida  orange  grove,  but  I  never  succeeded 
in  having  this  verified. 

In  November,  191 5,  after  the  Arabic  settlement  there 
followed  a  moment  for  us  of  comparative  calm.  Mrs. 
Gerard  was  given  the  Red  Cross  Orders  of  the  first  and 
third  classes,  and  Jackson  and  Rives  of  the  Embassy  Staff 
the  second  and  third  class.  The  third  class  is  always  given 
because  one  cannot  have  the  first  and  second  unless  one 
has  the  third  or  lowest. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  i8i 

There  were  rumours  at  this  time  of  the  formation  of 
a  new  party;  really  the  Sociahsts  and  Liberals,  as  the 
Socialists  as  such  were  too  unfashionable,  in  too  bad 
odour,  to  open  a  campaign  against  the  military  under  their 
own  name.     This  talk  came  to  nothing. 

Von  Bethmann-Hollweg  always  complained  bitterly 
that  he  could  not  communicate  In  cipher  via  wireless  with 
von  BernstorfF.  On  one  occasion  he  said  to  me,  "How 
can  I  arrange  as  I  wish  to  In  a  friendly  way  the  Ancona 
and  Lusitania  cases  If  I  cannot  communicate  with  my  Am- 
bassador? Why  does  the  United  States  Government  not 
allow  me  to  communicate  in  cipher?"  I  said,  "The  For- 
eign Office  tried  to  get  me  to  procure  a  safe-conduct  for 
the  notorious  von  Rintelen  on  the  pretense  that  he  was 
going  to  do  charitable  work  for  Belgium  in  America; 
perhaps  Washington  thinks  you  want  to  communicate 
with  people  like  that."  The  Chancellor  then  changed  the 
subject  and  said  that  there  would  be  bad  feeling  in  Ger- 
many against  America  after  the  war.  I  answered  that 
that  idea  had  been  expressed  by  a  great  many  Germans 
and  German  newspapers,  and  that  I  had  had  private 
letters  from  a  great  many  Americans  who  wrote  that  if 
Germany  intended  to  make  war  on  America,  after  this 
war,  perhaps  we  had  better  go  in  now.  He  then  veiy 
amiably  said  that  war  with  America  would  be  ridiculous. 
He  asked  me  why  public  opinion  in  America  was  against 
Germany,  and  I  answered  that  matters  like  the  Cavell 
case  had  made  a  bad  impression  in  America  and  that  I 
knew  personally  that  even  the  Kaiser  did  not  approve 
of  the  torpedoing  of  the  Lusitania.  Von  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg said,  "How  about  the  Baraloiujf"  I  replied  that  I 
did  not  know  the  details  and  that  there  seemed  much 
doubt  and  confusion  about  that  affair,  but  that  there  was 
no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  Miss  Cavell  was  shot  and 
that  she  was  a  woman.  I  then  took  up  in  detail  with  him 
the  treatment  of  British  prisoners  and  said  that  this  bad 


i82        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

treatment  could  not  go  on.  This  was  only  one  of  the 
many  times  when  I  complained  to  the  Chancellor  about 
the  condition  of  prisoners.  I  am  sure  that  he  did  not  ap- 
prove of  the  manner  in  which  prisoners  of  war  in  Ger- 
many were  treated;  but  he  always  complained  that  he 
was  powerless  where  the  military  were  concerned,  and 
always  referred  me  to  Bismarck's  memoirs. 

During  this  winter  of  submarine  controversy  an  inter- 
view with  von  Tirpitz,  thinly  veiled  as  an  interview  with 
a  "high  naval  authority,"  was  published  in  that  usually 
most  conservative  of  newspapers,  the  Frankfurter  Zei- 
tung.  In  this  interview  the  "high  naval  authority"  ad- 
vocated ruthless  submarine  war  with  England,  and  prom- 
ised to  bring  about  thereby  the  speedy  surrender  of  that 
country.  After  the  surrender,  which  was  to  include  the 
whole  British  fleet,  the  German  fleet  with  the  surrendered 
British  fleet  added  to  its  force,  was  to  sail  for  America, 
and  exact  from  that  country  indemnities  enough  to  pay 
the  whole  cost  of  the  war. 

After  his  fall,  von  Tirpitz,  in  a  letter  to  some  admirers 
who  had  sent  him  verses  and  a  wreath,  advocated  holding 
the  coast  of  Flanders  as  a  necessity  for  the  war  against 
England  and  America. 

The  successor  of  von  Tirpitz  was  Admiral  von  Holt- 
zendorff,  whose  brother  is  Ballin's  right  hand  man  in 
the  management  of  the  Hamburg  American  Line.  Be- 
cause of  the  more  reasonable  influence  and  surroundings 
of  von  Holtzendorff,  I  regarded  his  appointment  as  a  help 
towards  peaceful  relations  between  Germany  and  Amer- 
ica. 

I  have  told  in  another  chapter  how  the  Emperor  had 
refused  to  receive  me  as  Ambassador  of  a  country  which 
was  supplying  munitions  to  the  Allies. 

From  time  to  time  since  I  learned  of  this  in  March, 
19 1 5,  I  kept  insisting  upon  my  right  as  Ambassador  to  be 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  183 

received  by  the  Emperor;  and  finally  early  in  October, 
19 1 5,  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Chancellor: 

"Your  Excellency: 

Some  time  ago  I  requested  you  to  arrange  an  audience 
for  me  with  his  majesty. 

Please  take  no  further  trouble  about  this  matter. 

Sincerely  yours, 

James  W.  Gerard." 

This  seemed  to  have  the  desired  effect.  I  was  in- 
formed that  I  would  be  received  by  the  Emperor  in  the 
new  palace  at  Potsdam  on  October  twenty-second.  He 
was  then  to  pay  a  flying  visit  to  Berlin  to  receive  the  new 
Peruvian  Minister  and  one  or  two  others.  We  went 
down  in  the  train  to  Potsdam,  von  Jagow  accompanying 
us,  in  the  morning;  and  it  was  arranged  that  we  should 
return  on  the  train  leaving  Potsdam  a  little  after  one 
o'clock.  I  think  that  the  authorities  of  the  palace  ex- 
pected that  I  would  be  with  the  Emperor  for  a  few  min- 
utes only,  as  when  I  was  shown  into  the  room  where  he 
was,  a  large  room  opening  from  the  famous  shell  hall 
of  the  palace,  the  Peruvian  Minister  and  the  others  to 
be  received  were  standing  waiting  in  that  hall. 

The  Emperor  was  alone  in  the  room  and  no  one  was 
present  at  our  interview.  He  was  dressed  in  a  Hussar 
uniform  of  the  new  field  grey,  the  parade  uniform  of 
which  the  frogs  and  trimmings  were  of  gold.  A  large 
table  in  the  corner  of  the  room  was  covered  with  maps, 
compasses,  scales  and  rulers;  and  looked  as  if  the  Em- 
peror there,  in  company  with  some  of  his  aides,  or  pos- 
sibly the  chief  of  staff,  had  been  working  out  the  plan  of 
campaign  of  the  German  armies. 

The  Emperor  was  standing;  so,  naturally,  I  stood 
also;  and,  according  to  his  habit,  which  is  quite  Roose- 
yeltian,  he  stood  very  close  to  me  and  talked  very  earnest- 


i84       MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ly.  I  was  fortunately  able  to  clear  up  two  distinct  points 
which  he  had  against  America. 

The  Emperor  said  that  he  had  read  in  a  German  paper 
that  a  number  of  submarines  built  in  America  for  Great 
Britain  had  crossed  the  Atla-ntic  to  England,  escorted  by 
ships  of  the  American  Navy.  I  was,  of  course,  able  to 
deny  this  ridiculous  story  at  the  time  and  furnish  definite 
proofs  later.  The  Emperor  complained  because  a  loan 
to  Great  Britain  and  France  had  been  floated  in  America. 
I  said  that  the  first  loan  to  a  belligerent  floated  in  Amer- 
ica was  a  loan  to  Germany.  The  Emperor  sent  for  some 
of  his  staff  and  immediately  inquired  into  the  matter. 
The  members  of  the  staff  confirmed  my  statement.  The 
Emperor  said  that  he  would  not  have  permitted  the  tor- 
pedoing of  the  Lusitania  if  he  had  known,  and  that  no 
gentleman  would  kill  so  many  women  and  children.  He 
showed,  however,  great  bitterness  against  the  United 
States  and  repeatedly  said,  "America  had  better  look  out 
after  this  war;"  and  "I  shall  stand  no  nonsense  from 
America  after  the  war." 

The  interview  lasted  about  an  hour  and  a  quarter,  and 
when  I  finally  emerged  from  the  room  the  oflScers  of  the 
Emperor's  household  were  in  such  a  state  of  agitation 
that  I  feel  sure  they  must  have  thought  that  something 
fearful  had  occurred.  As  I  walked  rapidly  towards  the 
door  of  the  palace  in  order  to  take  the  carriage  which 
was  to  drive  me  to  the  train,  one  of  them  walked  along 
beside  me  saying,  "Is  it  all  right?     Is  it  all  right?" 

The  unfortunate  diplomats  who  were  to  have  been 
received  and  who  had  been  standing  all  this  time  outside 
the  door  waiting  for  an  audience  missed  their  train  and 
their  luncheon. 

At  this  interview,  the  Emperor  looked  very  careworn 
and  seemed  nervous.  When  I  next  saw  him,  however, 
which  was  not  until  the  end  of  April,  191 6,  he  was  in 
much  better  condition. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  185 

I  was  so  fearful  in  reporting  the  dangerous  part  of 
this  interview,  on  account  of  the  many  spies  not  only  in 
my  own  Embassy  but  also  in  the  State  Department,  that 
I  sent  but  a  very  few  words  in  a  roundabout  way  by 
courier  direct  to  the  President. 

The  year,  19 16,  opened  with  this  great  question  still 
unsettled  and,  in  effect,  Germany  gave  notice  that  after 
March  first,  19 16,  the  German  submarines  would  sink 
all  armed  merchantmen  of  the  enemies  of  Germany  with- 
out warning.  It  is  not  my  place  here  to  go  into  the  agi- 
tation of  this  question  in  America  or  into  the  history  of 
the  votes  in  Congress,  which  in  fact  upheld  the  policy  of 
the  President.  A  proposal  as  to  armed  merchantmen 
was  issued  by  our  State  Department  and  the  position 
taken  in  this  was  apparently  abandoned  at  the  time  of  the 
settlement  of  the  Sussex  case  to  which  I  now  refer. 

In  the  latter  half  of  March,  1916,  a  number  of  boats 
having  Americans  on  board  were  torpedoed  without  warn- 
ing. These  boats  were  the  Eaglepoint,  the  Englishman, 
the  Manchester  Engineer  and  the  Sussex.  One  American 
was  killed  or  drowned  on  the  Englishman,  but  the  issue 
finally  came  to  a  head  over  the  torpedoing  of  the  channel 
passenger  boat,  Sussex,  which  carried  passengers  between 
FoJkstone  and  Dieppe,  France. 

On  March  twenty-fourth  the  Sussex  was  torpedoed 
near  the  coast  of  France.  Four  hundred  and  thirty-six 
persons,  of  whom  seventy-five  were  Americans,  were  on 
board.  The  captain  and  a  number  of  the  passengers  saw 
the  torpedo  and  an  endeavour  was  made  to  avoid  it.  After 
the  boat  was  struck  the  many  passengers  took  to  the  boats. 
Three  Americans  were  injured  and  over  forty  persons 
lost  their  lives,  although  the  boat  was  not  sunk  but  was 
towed  to  Boulogne. 

I  was  instructed  to  inquire  frora  the  German  Govern- 
ment as  to  whether  a  Gemian  submarine  had  sunk  the 
Sussex.     The  Foreign  Office  finally,  at  my  repeated  re- 


i86        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

quest,  called  on  the  Admiralty  for  a  report  of  the  torpe- 
doing of  the  Sussex;  and  at  last  on  the  tenth  of  April  the 
German  Note  was  delivered  to  me.  In  the  meantime,  and 
before  the  delivery  of  this  Note  I  had  been  assured  again 
and  again  that  the  Sussex  had  not  been  torpedoed  by  a 
German  submarine.  In  this  Note  a  rough  sketch  was 
enclosed,  said  to  have  been  made  by  the  officer  command- 
ing the  submarine,  of  a  vessel  which  he  admitted  he  had 
torpedoed,  in  the  same  locality  where  the  Sussex  had  been 
attacked  and  at  about  the  same  time  of  day.  It  was  said 
that  this  boat  which  was  torpedoed  was  a  mine  layer 
of  the  recently  built  Arabic  class  and  that  a  great  explosion 
which  was  observed  to  occur  in  the  torpedoed  ship  war- 
ranted the  certain  conclusion  that  great  amounts  of  muni- 
tions were  on  board.  The  Note  concluded:  "The  Ger- 
man Government  must  therefore  assume  that  injury  to 
the  Sussex  was  attributable  to  another  cause  than  attack 
by  a  German  submarine."  The  Note  contained  an  offer 
to  submit  any  difference  of  opinion  that  might  develop  to 
be  investigated  by  a  mixed  commission  in  accordance  with 
the  Hague  Convention  of  1907.  The  Englishman  and 
the  Eaglepoint,  it  was  claimed,  were  attacked  by  German 
submarines  only  after  they  had  attempted  to  escape,  and 
an  explanation  was  given  as  to  the  Manchester  Engineer. 
With  reference  to  the  Sussex,  the  note  continued:  "Should 
the  American  Government  have  at  its  disposal  other 
material  at  the  conclusion  of  the  case  of  the  Sussex,  the 
German  Government  would  ask  that  it  be  communicated, 
in  order  to  subject  this  material  also  to  investigation." 

In  the  meantime,  American  naval  officers,  etc.,  had  been 
engaged  in  collecting  facts  as  to  the  sinking  of  the  Sussex, 
and  this  evidence,  which  seemed  overwhelming  and,  in 
connection  with  the  admissions  in  the  German  note,  ab- 
solutely conclusive,  was  incorporated  in  the  note  sent  to 
Germany  in  which  Germany  was  notified:  "Unless  the 
Imperial   Government   should  now   immediately   declare 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  187 

and  effect  abandonment  of  this  present  method  of  sub- 
marine warfare  against  passenger  and  freight  carrying 
vessels,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  can  have 
no  choice  but  to  sever  diplomatic  relations  with  the 
German  Empire  altogether." 

The  issue  was  now  clearly  defined. 

I  have  already  spoken  of  the  fact  that  for  a  long  time 
there  had  been  growing  up  two  parties  in  Germany.  One 
party  headed  by  von  Tirpitz  in  favour  of  what  the  Ger- 
mans called  riicksichtloser,  or  ruthless  submarine  war,  in 
which  all  enemy  merchant  ships  were  to  be  sunk  without 
warning,  and  the  party  then  headed  by  the  Chancellor 
which  desired  to  avoid  a  conflict  with  America  on  this 
issue. 

As  I  have  explained  in  a  former  chapter,  the  military 
have  always  claimed  to  take  a  hand  in  shaping  the  desti- 
nies and  foreign  policies  of  Germany.  When  the  Germr.is 
began  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  creation  of  a  fleet, 
von  Tirpitz  was  the  man  who,  in  a  sense,  became  the 
leader  of  the  movement  and,  therefore,  the  creator  of 
the  modern  navy  of  Germany.  A  skilful  politician,  he 
for  years  dominated  the  Reichstag  and  on  the  question  of 
submarine  warfare  was  most  efficiently  seconded  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Navy  League,  an  organisation  having  per- 
haps one  million  members  throughout  Germany.  Al- 
though only  one  of  the  three  heads  of  the  navy  (he  was 
Secretary  of  the  Navy),  by  the  force  of  his  personality, 
by  the  political  position  which  he  had  created  for  himself, 
and  by  the  backing  of  his  friends  in  the  Navy  League  he 
really  dominated  the  other  two  departments  of  the  navy, 
the  Marine  Staff  and  the  Marine  Cabinet. 

Like  most  Germans  of  the  ruling  class,  ambition  is  his 
only  passion.  These  Spartans  do  not  care  either  for 
money  or  for  the  luxury  which  it  brings.  Their  life  is 
on  very  simple  lines,  both  in  the  Army  and  Navy,  in  or- 
der that  the  oflicers  shall  not  vie  with  one   another  in. 


i88        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

expenditure,  and  in  order  that  the  poorer  officers  and 
their  wives  shall  not  be  subject  to  the  humiliation  which 
would  be  caused  if  they  had  to  live  in  constant  contact 
with  brother  officers  living  on  a  more  luxurious  footing. 

Von  Tirpitz'  ambition  undoubtedly  led  him  to  consider 
himself  as  a  promising  candidate  for  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg's  shoes.  The  whole  submarine  issue,  therefore,  be- 
came not  only  a  question  of  military  expediency  and  a 
question  for  the  Foreign  Office  to  decide  in  connection 
with  the  relations  of  America  to  Germany,  but  also  a 
question  of  internal  politics,  a  means  of  forcing  the  Chan- 
cellor out  of  office.  The  advocates  for  the  ruthless  war 
were  drawn  from  the  Navy  and  from  the  Army,  and  those 
who  believed  in  the  use  of  any  means  of  offence 
against  their  enemies  and  particularly  in  the  use  of  any 
means  that  would  stop  the  shipment  of  munitions  of  war 
t  '  the  Allies.  The  Army  and  the  Navy  were  joined  by 
the  Conservatives  and  by  all  those  who  hoped  for  the  fall 
of  the  Chancellor.  The  conservative  newspapers,  and 
even  the  Roman  Catholic  newspapers  were  violent  in  their 
call  for  ruthless  submarine  war  as  well  as  violent  in  their 
denunciations  of  the  United  States  of  America. 

American  passengers  on  merchant  ships  of  the  enemy 
were  called  Schutzengel  (guardian  angels),  and  carica- 
tures were  published,  such  as  one  which  showed  the  mate 
reporting  to  the  Captain  of  a  British  boat  that  everything 
was  in  readiness  for  sailing  and  the  Captain's  inquiry, 
"Are  you  sure  that  the  American  Schutzengel  is  on 
board?"  The  numerous  notes  sent  by  America  to  Ger- 
many also  formed  a  frequent  subject  of  caricature  and  I 
remember  particularly  one  quite  clever  one  in  the  paper 
called  Briimmer,  representing  the  celebrations  in  a  Ger- 
man port  on  the  arrival  of  the  one  hundredth  note  from 
America  when  the  Mayor  of  the  town  and  the  military, 
flower  girls  and  singing  societies  and  Turnverein  were 
drawn  up  in  welcoming  array.     The  liberal  papers  were 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  189 

inclined  to  support  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  in  his  ap- 
parent intention  to  avoid  an  open  break  with  America. 
But  even  the  liberal  papers  were  not  very  strong  in  their 
stand. 

The  military,  of  course,  absolutely  despised  America 
and  claimed  that  America  could  do  no  more  harm  by  de- 
claring war  than  it  was  doing  then  to  Germany;  and  that 
possibly  the  war  preparations  of  America  might  cut  down 
the  amount  of  the  munitions  available  for  export  to  the 
enemies  of  the  Empire.  As  to  anything  that  America 
could  do  in  a  military  way,  the  Navy  and  the  Army  were 
unanimous  in  saying  that  as  a  military  or  naval  factor  the 
United  States  might  be  considered  as  less  than  nothing. 
This  was  the  situation  when  the  last  Sussex  Note  of 
America  brought  matters  to  a  crisis,  and  even  the  crisis 
itself  was  considered  a  farce  as  it  had  been  simmering  for 
so  long  a  period. 

I  arranged  that  Colonel  House  should  have  an  inter- 
view with  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  at  this  time,  and  after 
dinner  one  night  he  had  a  long  talk  with  the  Chancellor 
in  which  the  dangers  of  the  situation  were  pointed  out. 

With  this  arrival  of  the  last  American  Sussex  Note,  I 
felt  that  the  situation  was  almost  hopeless;  that  this  ques- 
tion which  had  dragged  along  for  so  long  must  now  in- 
evitably lead  to  a  break  of  relations  and  possibly  to  war. 
Von  Jagow  had  the  same  idea  and  said  that  it  was  "fate," 
and  that  there  was  nothing  more  to  be  done.  I  myself 
felt  that  nothing  could  alter  public  opinion  in  Germany; 
that  in  spite  of  von  Tirpitz'  fall,  which  had  taken  place 
some  time  before,  the  advocates  of  ruthless  submarine 
warfare  would  win,  and  that  to  satisfy  them  Germany 
would  risk  a  break  with  America. 

I  was  sitting  in  my  office  in  a  rather  dazed  and  despair- 
ing state  when  Professor  Ludwig  Stein,  proprietor  of  a 
magazine  called  North  and  South  and  a  writer  of  special 
articles  on  Germany's  foreign  relations  for  the  Vossische 


I90        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Zeitung,  under  the  name  of  "Diplomaticus,"  called  to 
see  me. 

He  informed  me  that  he  thought  the  situation  was  not 
yet  hopeless,  that  there  was  still  a  large  party  of  reason- 
able men  in  Germany  and  that  he  thought  much  good  could 
be  done  if  I  should  go  to  the  Great  General  Headquarters 
and  have  a  talk  with  the  Kaiser,  who,  he  informed  me, 
was  reported  to  be  against  a  break. 

I  told  Dr.  Stein  that,  of  course,  I  was  perfectly  willing 
to  go  if  there  was  the  slightest  chance  of  preventing  war; 
and  I  also  told  the  Chancellor  that  if  he  was  going  to 
decide  this  question  in  favor  of  peace  it  would  be  possibly 
easier  for  him  if  the  decision  was  arrived  at  under  the 
protection,  as  it  were,  of  the  Emperor;  or  that,  if  the 
decision  lay  with  the  Emperor,  I  might  possibly  be  able 
to  help  in  convincing-  him  if  I  had  an  opportunity  to  lay 
the  American  side  of  the  case  before  him.  1  said,  more- 
over, that  I  was  ready  at  any  time  on  short  notice  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  Emperor's  headquarters. 

Dr.  Hecksher,  a  member  of  the  Reichstag,  who  must 
be  classed  among  the  reasonable  men  of  Germany,  also 
advocated  my  speaking  directly  to  the  Kaiser. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

MAINLY  COMMERCIAL 

NOTHING  surprised  me  more,  as  the  war  developed, 
than  the  discovery  of  the  great  variety  and  amount 
of  goods  exported  from  Germany  to  the  United  States. 
Goods  sent  from  the  United  States  to  Germany  are 
mainly  prime  materials:  approximately  one  hundred  and 
sixty  million  dollars  a  year  of  cotton;  seventy-five  million 
dollars  of  copper;  fifteen  millions  of  wheat;  twenty  mil- 
lions of  animal  fats;  ten  millions  of  mineral  oil  and  a  large 
amount  of  vegetable  oil.  Of  course,  the  amount  of  wheat 
is  especially  variable.  Some  manufactured  goods  from 
America  also  find  their  way  to  Germany  to  the  extent 
of  perhaps  seventy  millions  a  year,  comprising  machinery 
such  as  typewriters  and  a  miscellaneous  line  of  machinery 
and  manufactures.  7  he  principal  exports  from  Germany 
to  America  consist  of  dye  stuffs  and  chemical  dyes,  toys, 
underwear,  surgical  instruments,  cutlery,  stockings,  knit 
goods,  etc.,  and  a  raw  material  called  potash,  also  known 
as  kali.  The  last  is  a  mineral  found  nowhere  in  the  world 
except  in  Germany  and  in  a  few  places  in  Austria.  Pot- 
ash is  essential  to  the  manufacture  of  many  fertilizers, 
fertilizer  being  composed  as  a  rule  of  potash,  phosphates 
and  nitrates.  The  nitrates  in  past  years  have  been  ex- 
ported to  all  countries  from  Chile.  Phosphate  rock  is 
mined  in  South  Carolina  and  Florida  and  several  other 
places  in  the  world.  Curiously  enough,  both  nitrates  and 
potash  are  essential  ingredients  also  of  explosives  used 
in  war.  Since  the  war,  the  German  supply  from  Chile 
was  cut  off ;  but  the  Germans,  following  a  system  used  in 

191 


192        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Norway  for  many  years  before  the  war,  established  great 
electrical  plants  for  the  extraction  of  nitrates  from  the 
atmosphere.  Since  the  war,  Mnerican  agriculture  has 
suffered  for  want  of  potash  and  German  agriculture  has 
suffered  for  want  of  phosphates,  possibly  of  nitrates  also; 
because  I  doubt  whether  sufficient  nitrogen  is  extracted 
from  the  air  in  Germany  to  provide  for  more  than  the 
needs  of  the  explosive  industry. 

The  dyestuff  industry  had  been  developed  to  such  a 
point  in  Germany  that  Germany  supplied  the  whole  world. 
In  the  first  months  of  the  war  some  enterprising  Amer- 
icans, headed  by  Herman  Metz,  chartered  a  boat,  called 
The  Matanzas,  and  sent  it  to  Rotterdam  where  it  was 
loaded  with  a  cargo  of  German  dyestuffs.  The  boat  sailed 
under  the  American  flag  and  was  not  interfered  with  by 
the  British.  Later  on  the  German  Department  of  the 
Interior,  at  whose  head  was  Delbriick,  refused  to  allow 
dyestuffs  to  leave  Germany  except  in  exchange  for  cotton, 
and,  finally,  the  export  of  dyestuffs  from  Germany  ceased 
and  other  countries  were  compelled  to  take  up  the  ques- 
tion of  manufacture.  This  state  of  affairs  may  lead  to 
the  establishment  of  the  industry  permanently  in  the 
United  States,  although  that  industry  will  require  protec- 
tion for  some  years,  as,  undoubtedly,  Germany  in  her 
desperate  effort  to  regain  a  monopoly  of  this  trade  will 
be  ready  to  spend  enormous  sums  in  order  to  undersell 
the  American  manufacturers  and  drive  them  out  of  busi- 
ness. 

The  commercial  submarines,  Deutschland  and  Bremen, 
were  to  a  great  extent  built  with  money  furnished  by  the 
dyestuff  manufacturers,  who  hoped  that  by  sending  dye- 
stuffs  in  this  way  to  America  they  could  prevent  the  de- 
velopment of  the  industry  there.  I  had  many  negotiations 
with  the  F^oreign  Office  with  reference  to  this  question  of 
dyestuffs. 

The  export  of  toys  from  Germany  to  the  United  States 


xMAINLY  COMMERCIAL  193 

forms  a  large  item  in  the  bill  which  we  pay  annually  to 
Germany.  Many  of  these  toys  are  manufactured  by  the 
people  in  their  own  homes  in  the  picturesque  district 
known  as  the  Black  Forest.  Of  course,  the  war  cut  off, 
after  a  time,  the  export  of  toys  from  Germany;  and  the 
American  child,  having  in  the  meantime  learned  to  be 
satisfied  with  some  other  article,  his  little  brother  will 
demand  this  very  article  next  Christmas,  and  thus,  after 
the  war,  Germany  will  find  that  much  of  this  trade  has 
been  permanently  lost. 

Just  as  the  textile  trade  of  the  United  States  was  de- 
pendent upon  the  German  dyestuffs  for  colours,  so  the 
sugar  beet  growers  of  America  were  dependent  upon  Ger- 
many for  their  seed.  I  succeeded,  with  the  able  as- 
sistance of  the  consul  at  Magdeburg  and  Mr.  Winslow 
of  my  staff,  in  getting  shipments  of  beet  seed  out  of  Ger- 
many. I  have  heard  since  that  these  industries  too,  are 
being  developed  in  America,  and  seed  obtained  from 
other  countries,  such  as  Russia. 

Another  commodity  upon  which  a  great  industry  in  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  depends  is  cyanide.  I'he  dis- 
covery of  the  cyanide  process  of  treating  gold  and  silver 
ores  permitted  the  exploitation  of  many  mines  which 
could  not  be  worked  under  the  older  methods.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  war  there  was  a  small  manufactory  of 
cyanide  owned  by  Germans  at  Perth  Amboy  and  Niagara 
Falls,  but  most  of  the  cyanide  used  was  imported  from 
Germany.  The  American  German  Company  and  the 
companies  manufacturing  in  Germany  and  in  Great  Brit- 
ain all  operated  under  the  same  patents,  the  British  and 
German  companies  having  working  agreements  as  to  the 
distribution  of  business  throughout  the  world. 

The  German  Vice-Chancellor  and  head  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior,  Delbriick,  put  an  export  prohibition 
on  cyanide  early  in  the  war;  and  most  pigheadedly  and 
obstinately  claimed  that  cyanide  was  manufactured  no- 


194        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

where  but  in  Germany,  and  that,  therefore,  if  he  allowed 
cyanide  to  leave  Germany  for  the  United  States  or  Mex- 
ico the  English  would  capture  it  and  would  use  it  to  work 
South  African  mines,  thus  adding  to  the  stock  of  gold  and 
power  in  war  of  the  British  Empire.  It  was  a  long  time 
before  the  German  manufacturers  and  I  could  convince 
this  gentleman  that  cyanide  sufficient  to  supply  all  the 
British  mines  was  manufactured  near  Glasgow,  Scotland. 
He  then  reluctantly  gave  a  permit  for  the  export  of  a 
thousand  tons  of  cyanide;  and  its  arrival  in  the  United 
States  permitted  many  mines  there  and  in  Mexico  to  con- 
tinue operations,  and  saved  many  persons  from  being 
thrown  out  of  employment.  When  Delbriick  finally  gave 
a  permit  for  the  export  of  four  thousand  tons  more  of 
cyanide,  the  psychological  moment  had  passed  and  we 
could  not  obtain  through  our  State  Department  a  pass 
from  the  British. 

I  am  convinced  that  Delbriick  made  a  great  tactical 
mistake  on  behalf  of  the  German  Government  when  he 
imposed  this  prohibition  against  export  of  goods  to  Amer- 
ica. Many  manufacturers  of  textiles,  the  users  of  dye- 
stuffs,  medicines,  seeds  and  chemicals  in  all  forms,  were 
clamouring  for  certain  goods  and  chemicals  from  Ger- 
many. But  it  was  the  prohibition  against  export  by  the 
Germans  which  prevented  their  receiving  these  goods. 
If  it  had  been  the  British  blockade  alone  a  cry  might 
have  arisen  in  the  United  States  against  this  blockade 
which  might  have  materially  changed  the  international 
situation. 

The  Germans  also  refused  permission  for  the  export 
of  potash  from  Germany.  They  hoped  thereby  to  in- 
duce the  United  States  to  break  the  British  blockade,  and 
offered  cargoes  of  potash  in  exchange  for  cargoes  of  cot- 
ton or  cargoes  of  foodstuffs.  The  Germans  claimed  that 
potash  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  munitions  and 
that,  therefore,  in  no  event  would  they  permit  the  export 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  195 

unless  the  potash  was  consigned  to  the  American  Govern- 
ment, with  guarantees  against  its  use  except  in  the  manu- 
facture of  fertilizer,  this  to  be  checked  up  by  Germans 
appointed  as  inspectors.  All  these  negotiations,  however, 
fell  through  and  no  potash  has  been  exported  from  Ger- 
many to  the  United  States  since  the  commencement  of 
the  war.  Enough  potash,  however,  is  obtained  in  the 
United  States  for  munition  purposes  from  the  burning  of 
seaweed  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  from  the  brines  in  a  lake  in 
Southern  California  and  from  a  rock  called  alunite  in 
Utah.  Potash  is  also  obtainable  from  feldspar,  but  I  do 
not  know  Avhether  any  plant  has  been  established  for  its 
production  from  this  rock.  I  recently  heard  of  the  arrival 
of  some  potash  from  a  newly  discovered  field  in  Brazil, 
and  there  have  been  rumours  of  its  discovery  in  Spain. 
I  do  not  know  how  good  this  Spanish  and  Brazilian  pot- 
ash is,  and  I  suppose  the  German  potash  syndicate  will 
immediately  endeavour  to  control  these  fields  in  order  to 
hold  the  potash  trade  of  the  world  in  its  grip. 

It  was  a  long  time  after  the  commencement  of  the 
war  before  Great  Britain  declared  cotton  a  contraband. 
I  think  this  was  because  of  the  fear  of  irritating  the 
United  States;  but,  in  the  meantime,  Germany  secured  a 
great  quantity  of  cotton,  which,  of  course,  was  used  or 
stored  for  the  manufacture  of  powder.  Since  the  cotton 
imports  have  been  cut  off  the  Germans  claim  that  they 
are  manufacturing  a  powder  equally  good  by  using  wood 
pulp.  Of  course,  I  have  not  been  able  to  verify  this, 
absolutely. 

Germany  had  endeavoured  before  the  war  in  every 
way  to  keep  American  goods  out  of  the  German  markets, 
and  even  the  Prussian  state  railways  are  used,  as  I  have 
shown  in  the  chapter  where  I  speak  of  the  attempt  to 
establish  an  oil  monopoly  in  Germany,  in  order  to  dis- 
criminate against  American  mineral  oils.  This  same 
method  has  been  applied  to  other  articles  such  as  wood. 


196        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

which  otherwise  might  be  imported  from  America  and 
in  some  cases  regulations  as  to  the  inspection  of  meat, 
etc.,  have  proved  more  effective  in  keeping  American 
goods  out  of  the  market  than  a  prohibitive  tariff. 

The  meat  regulation  is  that  each  individual  package 
of  meat  must  be  opened  and  inspected;  and,  of  course, 
when  a  sausage  has  been  individually  made  to  sit  up  and 
bark  no  one  desires  it  as  an  article  of  food  thereafter. 
American  apples  were  also  discriminated  against  in  the 
custom  regulations  of  Germany.  Nor  could  I  induce  the 
German  Government  to  change  their  tariff  on  canned 
salmon,  an  article  which  would  prove  a  welcome  addition 
to  the  German  diet. 

The  German  workingman,  undoubtedly  the  most  ex- 
ploited and  fooled  workingman  in  the  world,  is  compelled 
not  only  to  work  for  low  wages  and  for  long  hours,  but 
to  purchase  his  food  at  rates  fixed  by  the  German  tariff 
made  for  the  benefit  of  the  Prussian  Junkers  and  land- 
owners. 

Of  course,  the  Prussian  Junkers  excuse  the  imposition 
of  the  tariff  on  food  and  the  regulations  made  to  prevent 
the  entry  of  foodstuffs  on  the  ground  that  GeiTnan  agri- 
culture must  be  encouraged,  first,  in  order  to  enable  the 
population  to  subsist  in  time  of  war  and  blockade;  and, 
secondly,  in  order  to  encourage  the  peasant  class  which 
furnishes  the  most  solid  soldiers  to  the  Imperial  armies. 

The  nations  and  business  men  of  the  world  will  have 
to  face  after  the  war  a  new  condition  which  we  may  call 
socialized  buying  and  socialized  selling. 

Not  long  after  the  commencement  of  the  war  the  Ger- 
mans placed  a  prohibitive  tariff  upon  the  import  of  certain 
articles  of  luxury  such  as  perfumes;  their  object,  of  course, 
being  to  keep  the  German  people  from  sending  money  out 
of  the  country  and  wasting  their  money  in  useless  ex- 
penditures. At  the  same  time  a  great  institution  was 
formed  called  the  Central  Einkauf  Gesellschaft.     This 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  197 

body,  formed  under  government  auspices  of  men  ap- 
pointed from  civil  life,  is  somewhat  similar  to  one  of  our 
national  defence  boards.  Every  import  of  raw  material 
into  Germany  falls  into  the  hands  of  this  central  buying 
company,  and  if  a  German  desires  to  buy  any  raw  ma- 
terial for  use  in  his  factory  he  must  buy  it  through  this 
central  board. 

I  have  talked  with  members  of  this  board  and  they  all 
unite  in  the  belief  that  this  system  will  be  continued  after 
the  war. 

For  instance,  if  a  man  in  Germany  wishes  to  buy  an 
automobile  or  a  pearl  necklace  or  a  case  of  perfumery, 
he  will  be  told,  "You  can  buy  this  if  you  can  buy  it  in 
Germany.  But  if  you  have  to  send  to  America  for  the 
automobile,  if  you  have  to  send  to  Paris  for  the  pearls  or 
the  perfumery,  you  cannot  buy  them."  In  this  way  the 
gold  supply  of  Germany  will  be  husbanded  and  the  people 
will  either  be  prevented  from  making  comparatively  use- 
less expenditures  or  compelled  to  spend  money  to  benefit 
home  industry. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  a  man  desires  to  buy  some 
raw  material,  for  example,  copper,  cotton,  leather,  wheat 
or  something  of  that  kind,  he  will  not  be  allowed  to  buy 
abroad  on  his  own  hook.  The  Central  Einkauf  Gesell- 
schaft  will  see  that  all  those  desiring  to  buy  cotton  or 
copper  put  in  their  orders  on  or  before  a  certain  date. 
When  the  orders  are  all  in,  the  quantities  called  for  will 
be  added  up  by  this  central  board;  and  then  one  man, 
representing  the  board,  will  be  in  a  position  to  go  to 
America  to  purchase  the  four  million  bales  of  cotton  or 
two  hundred  million  pounds  of  copper. 

The  German  idea  is  that  this  one  board  will  be  able 
to  force  the  sellers  abroad  to  compete  against  each  other 
in  their  eagerness  to  sell.  The  one  German  buyer  will 
know  about  the  lowest  price  at  which  the  sellers  can  sell 
their  product.     By  the  buyer's  standing  out  alone  with 


198        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

this  great  order  the  Germans  believe  that  the  sellers,  one 
by  one,  will  fall  into  his  hands  and  sell  their  product  at 
a  price  below  that  which  they  could  obtain  If  the  Individ- 
ual sellers  of  America  were  meeting  the  individual  buyers 
of  Germany  In  the  open  market. 

When  the  total  amount  of  the  commodity  ordered  has 
been  purchased,  It  will  be  divided  up  among  the  German 
buyers  who  put  In  their  orders  with  the  central  company, 
each  order  being  charged  with  its  proportionate  share  of 
the  expenses  of  the  commission  and,  possibly,  an  addi- 
tional sum  for  the  benefit  of  the  treasury  of  the  Empire. 

Before  the  war  a  German  manufacturer  took  me  over 
his  great  factory  where  fifteen  thousand  men  and  women 
were  employed,  showed  me  great  quantities  of  articles 
made  from  copper,  and  said:  "We  buy  this  copper  in 
America  and  we  get  it  a  cent  and  a  half  a  pound  less  than 
we  should  pay  for  it  because  our  government  permits  us 
to  combine  for  the  purpose  of  buying,  but  your  govern- 
ment does  not  allow  your  people  to  combine  for  the  pur- 
pose of  selling.  You  have  got  lots  of  silly  people  who 
become  envious  of  the  rich  and  pass  laws  to  prevent 
combination,  which  Is  the  logical  development  of  all  In- 
dustry." 

The  government  handling  of  exchange  during  the  war 
was  another  example  of  the  use  of  the  centralised  power 
of  the  Government  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  nation. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  war,  when  I  desired  money  to 
spend  in  Germany,  I  drew  a  check  on  my  bank  In  New 
York  In  triplicate  and  sent  a  clerk  with  It  to  the  different 
banks  in  Berlin,  to  obtain  bids  In  marks,  selling  It  then, 
naturally,  to  the  highest  bidder.  But  soon  the  Govern- 
ment stepped  in.  The  Imperial  Bank  was  to  fix  a  daily 
rate  of  exchange,  and  banks  and  individuals  were  for- 
bidden to  buy  or  sell  at  a  different  rate.  That  this  fixed 
rate  was  a  false  one,  fixed  to  the  advantage  of  Germany, 
I  proved  at  the  time  when  the  German  official  rate  was 


MAINLY  COiMiMERCIAL  199 

5.52  marks  for  a  dollar,  by  sending  my  American  checks 
to  Holland,  buying  Holland  money  with  them  and  Ger- 
man money  with  the  Holland  money,  in  this  manner  ob- 
taining 5.74  marks  for  each  dollar.  And  just  before 
leaving  Germany  I  sold  a  lot  of  American  gold  to  a 
German  bank  at  the  rate  of  6.42  marks  per  dollar, 
although  on  that  day  the  official  rate  was  5.52  and 
although  the  buyer  of  the  gold,  because  the  export  of  gold 
was  forbidden,  would  have  to  lose  interest  on  the  money 
paid  me  or  on  the  gold  purchased,  until  the  end  of  the 
war.  What  the  Germans  thought  of  the  value  of  the 
mark  is  shown  by  this  transaction. 

The  only  thing  that  can  maintain  a  fair  price  after  the 
war  for  the  products  of  American  firms,  miners  and  man- 
ufacturers is  permission  to  combine  for  selling  abroad. 
There  is  before  Congress  a  bill  called  the  Webb  Bill  per- 
mitting those  engaged  in  export  trade  to  combine,  and 
this  bill,  which  is  manifestly  for  the  benefit  of  the  Amer- 
ican producer  of  raw  materials  and  foods  and  manufac- 
tured articles,  should  be  passed. 

It  was  also  part  of  our  commercial  work  to  secure 
permits  for  the  exportation  from  Belgium  of  American 
owned  goods  seized  by  Germany.  We  succeeded  in  a 
number  of  cases  in  getting  these  goods  released.  In  other 
cases,  the  American  owned  property  was  taken  over  by 
the  government,  but  the  American  owners  were  compen- 
sated for  the  loss. 

Germany  took  over  belligerent  property  and  put  it  in 
the  hands  of  receivers.  In  all  cases  where  the  majority 
of  the  stock  of  a  German  corporation  was  owned  by  an- 
other corporation  or  individuals  of  belligerent  national- 
ity, the  German  corporation  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a 
receiver.  The  German  Government,  however,  would  not 
allow  the  inquiry  into  the  stock  ownership  to  go  further 
than  the  first  holding  corporation.  There  were  many 
cases  where  the  majority  of  the  stoc^  of  a  German  cor- 


200        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

poration  was  owned  by  a  British  corporation  and  the 
majority  of  the  stock  of  the  British  corporation,  in  turn, 
owned  by  an  American  corporation  or  by  Americans.  In 
this  case  the  German  Government  refused  to  consider  the 
American  ownership  of  the  British  stoclc,  and  put  the 
German   company  under  government  control. 

With  the  low  wages  paid  to  very  efficient  workingmen 
who  worked  for  long  hours  and  with  no  laws  against  com- 
bination, it  was  always  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  that 
the  Germans  who  were  in  the  process  of  getting  all  the 
money  in  the  world  should  have  allowed  their  military 
autocracy  to  drive  them  into  war. 

I  am  afraid  that,  after  this  war,  if  we  expect  to  keep 
a  place  for  our  trade  in  the  world,  we  may  have  to  revise 
some  of  our  ideas  as  to  so-called  trusts  and  the  Sherman 
Law.  Trusts  or  combinations  are  not  only  permitted, 
but  even  encouraged  in  Germany.  They  are  known  there 
as  "cartels"  and  the  difference  between  the  American 
trust  and  the  German  cartel  is  that  the  American  trust 
has,  as  it  were,  a  centralised  government  permanently 
taking  over  and  combining  the  competing  elements  in  any 
given  business,  while  in  Germany  the  competing  elements 
form  a  combination  by  contract  for  a  limited  number  of 
years.  This  combination  is  called  a  cartel  and  during 
these  years  each  member  of  the  cartel  is  assigned  a  given 
amount  of  the  total  production  and  given  a  definite  share 
of  the  profits  of  the  combination.  The  German  cartel, 
therefore,  as  Consul  General  Skinner  aptly  said,  may  be 
likened  to  a  confederation  existing  by  contract  for  a 
limited  period  of  time  and  subject  to  renewal  only  at  the 
will  of  its  members. 

It  may  be  that  competition  is  a  relic  of  barbarism  and 
that  one  of  the  first  signs  of  a  higher  civilisation  is  an  ef- 
fort to  modify  the  stress  of  competition.  The  debates  of 
Congress  tend  to  show  that,  in  enacting  the  Sherman 
Law,  Congress  did  not  intend  to  forbid  the  restraint  of 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  201 

competition  among  those  in  the  same  business  but  only 
intended  to  prohibit  the  forming  of  a  combination  by  those 
who,  combined,  would  have  a  monopoly  of  a  particular 
business  or  product.  It  is  easy  to  see  why  all  the  coal 
mines  in  the  country  should  be  prohibited  from  combin- 
ing; but  it  is  not  easy  to  see  why  certain  people  engaged 
in  the  tobacco  business  should  be  prohibited  from  taking 
their  competitors  into  their  combination,  because  tobacco 
is  a  product  which  could  be  raised  upon  millions  of  acres 
of  our  land  and  cannot  be  made  the  subject  of  a  monopoly. 

The  German  courts  have  expressly  said  that  if  prices 
are  so  low  that  the  manufacturers  of  a  particular  article 
see  financial  ruin  ahead,  a  formation  of  a  cartel  by  them 
must  be  looked  upon  as  a  justified  means  of  self-preserva- 
tion. The  German  laws  are  directed  to  the  end  to  which 
it  seems  to  be  such  laws  should  logically  be  directed; 
namely,  to  the  prevention  of  unfair  competition. 

So  long  as  the  question  of  monopoly  is  not  involved, 
competition  can  always  be  looked  for  when  a  combination 
is  making  too  great  profits;  and  the  new  and  competing 
corporation  and  individuals  should  be  protected  by  law 
against  the  danger  of  price  cutting  for  the  e?vpress  pur- 
pose of  driving  the  new  competitor  out  of  business.  How- 
ever, it  must  be  remembered  that  a  combination  acting 
unfairly  in  competition  may  be  more  oppressive  than  a 
monopoly.  I  myself  am  not  convinced  by  the  arguments 
of  either  side.     It  is  a  matter  for  the  most  serious  study. 

The  object  of  the  American  trust  has  been  to  destroy 
its  competitors.  The  object  of  the  German  cartel  to 
force  its  competitors  to  join  the  cartel. 

In  fact  the  government  in  Germany  becomes  part  of 
these  cartels  and  takes  an  active  hand  in  them,  as  witness 
the  participation  of  the  German  Government  in  the  pot- 
ash syndicate,  when  contracts  made  by  certain  American 
buyers  with  German  mines  were  cancelled  and  all  the 
potash  producing  mines  of  Germany  and  Austria  forced 


202        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

into  one  confederation;  and  witness  the  attempt  by  the 
government,  which  I  have  described  in  another  chapter, 
to  take  over  and  make  a  monopoly  of  the  wholesale  and 
retail  oil  business  of  the  country. 

The  recent  closer  combination  of  dyestuff  industries 
of  Germany,  with  the  express  purpose  of  meeting  and 
destroying  American  competition  after  the  war,  is  inter- 
esting as  showing  German  methods.  For  a  number  of 
years  the  dyestuff  industry  of  Germany  was  practically 
controlled  by  six  great  companies,  some  of  these  com- 
panies employing  as  high  as  five  hundred  chemists  in 
research  work.  In  1916  these  six  companies  made  an 
agreement  looking  to  a  still  closer  alliance  not  only  for 
the  distribution  of  the  product  but  also  for  the  distribution 
of  ideas  and  trade  secrets.  For  years,  these  great  com- 
mercial companies  supplied  all  the  countries  of  the  world 
not  only  with  dyestuffs  and  other  chemical  products  but 
also  with  medicines  discovered  by  their  chemists  and  made 
from  coal  tar;  which,  although  really  nothing  more  than 
patent  medicines,  were  put  upon  the  market  as  new  and 
great  and  beneficial  discoveries  in  medicine.  The  Bad- 
ische  Anilin  and  Soda  Fabrik,  with  a  capital  of  fifty-four 
million  marks  has  paid  dividends  in  the  ten  years  from 
1903  to  19 13,  averaging  over  twenty-six  per  cent. 

The  Farbwerke  Meister  Lucius  und  Bruning  at 
Hoeckst,  near  Frankfort,  during  the  same  period,  with 
a  capital  of  fifty  million  marks,  has  paid  dividends  aver- 
iiging  over  twenty-seven  per  cent;  and  the  chemical  works 
of  Bayer  and  Company,  near  Cologne,  during  the  same 
period  with  a  capital  of  fifty-four  millions  of  marks  has 
paid  dividends  averaging  over  thirty  per  cent. 

Much  of  the  commercial  success  of  the  Germans  dur- 
ing the  last  forty  years  is  due  to  the  fact  that  each  manu- 
facturer, each  discoverer  in  Germany,  each  exporter  knew 
that  the  whole  weight  and  power  of  the  Government  was 
behind  him  in  his  efforts  to  increase  his  business.     On 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  203 

the  other  hand,  in  America,  business  men  have  been  ter- 
rorized, almost  into  inaction,  by  constant  prosecutions. 
What  was  a  crime  in  one  part  of  the  United  States,  under 
one  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  was  a  perfectly  legitimate 
act  in  another. 

If  we  have  to  meet  the  intense  competition  of  Germany 
after  the  war,  we  have  got  to  view  all  these  problems 
from  new  angles.  For  instance,  there  is  the  question  of 
free  ports.  Representative  Murray  Hulbert  has  intro- 
duced, in  the  House  of  Representatives,  a  resolution 
directing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  Secretary  of 
War  and  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  to  report  to  Con- 
gress as  to  the  advisability  of  the  establishment  of  free 
ports  within  the  limits  of  the  established  customs  of  the 
United  States.  Free  ports  exist  in  Germany  and  have 
existed  for  a  long  time,  although  Germany  is  a  country 
with  a  protective  tariff.  In  a  free  port  raw  goods  are 
manufactured  and  then  exported,  of  course  to  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  country  permitting  the  establishment  of 
free  ports,  because  by  this  manufacture  of  raw  materials 
and  their  re-export,  without  being  subject  to  duty,  money 
is  earned  by  the  manufacturers  to  the  benefit  of  their 
own  country  and  employment  is  given  to  many  working- 
men.  This,  of  course,  improves  the  condition  of  these 
workingmen  and  of  all  others  in  the  country;  as  it  is  self- 
evident  that  the  employment  of  each  workingman  in  an 
industry,  which  would  not  exist  except  for  the  existence 
of  the  free  port,  withdraws  that  workingman  from  the 
general  labour  market  and,  therefore,  benefits  the  position 
of  his  remaining  fellow  labourers. 

Although  free  ports  do  not  exist  in  the  United  States, 
an  attempt  has  been  made  to  give  certain  industries,  by 
means  of  what  are  known  as  "drawbacks,''  the  same  bene- 
tit  that  they  would  enjoy  were  free  ports  existent  in  our 
country'. 

Thus  the  refiners  of  raw  sugar  from  Cuba  pay  a  duty 


204        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

on  this  sugar  when  it  enters  the  United  States,  but  receive 
this  duty  back  when  a  corresponding  amount  of  refined 
sugar  is  exported  to  other  countries. 

There  has  lately  been  an  attack  made  upon  this  sys- 
tem in  the  case,  however,  of  the  sugar  refiners  only,  and 
the  question  has  been  treated  in  some  newspapers  as  if 
these  refiners  were  obtaining  some  unfair  advantage  from 
the  government,  whereas,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  allow- 
ance of  these  "drawbacks"  enables  the  sugar  refiners  to 
carry  on  the  refining  of  the  sugar  for  export  much  as  they 
would  if  their  refineries  existed  in  free  ports  modelled  on 
the  German  system. 

The  repeal  of  the  provision  of  allowing  "drawbacks" 
In  this  and  other  Industries  will  probably  send  the  In- 
dustries to  Canada  or  some  other  territory  where  this 
system,  equivalent  to  the  free  port,  is  permitted  to  exist. 

A  few  days  before  I  left  Germany  I  had  a  conversation 
with  a  manufacturer  of  munitions  who  employs  about 
eighteen  thousand  people  in  his  factories,  which,  before 
the  war,  manufactured  articles  other  than  munitions.  I 
asked  him  how  the  government  treated  the  manufacturers 
of  munitions,  and  he  said  that  they  were  allowed  to  make 
good  profits,  although  they  had  to  pay  out  a  great  pro- 
portion of  these  profits  in  the  form  of  taxes  on  their 
excess  or  war  profits;  that  the  government  desired  to  en- 
courage manufacturers  to  turn  their  factories  into  factor- 
ies for  the  manufacture  of  all  articles  In  the  war  and  re- 
quired by  the  nation  in  sustaining  war;  and  that  the  manu- 
facturers would  do  this  provided  that  it  were  only  a  ques- 
tion as  to  how  much  of  their  profits  they  would  be  allowed 
to  keep,  but  that  If  the  Government  had  attempted  to  fix 
prices  so  low  that  there  would  have  been  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  manufacturer  could  make  a  profit  or  not,  the 
production  of  articles  required  for  war  would  never  have 
reached  the  high  mark  that  it  had  In  Germany. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  about  the  only  tax  imposed  in  Ger- 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  205 

many  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war  has  been  the  tax 
upon  cost  or  war  profits.  It  has  been  the  policy  of  Ger- 
many to  pay  for  the  war  by  great  loans  raised  by  popular 
subscription,  after  authorisation  by  the  Reichstag.  I 
calculate  that  the  amounts  thus  raised,  together  with  the 
floating  indebtedness,  amount  to  date  to  about  eighty 
billions  of  marks. 

For  a  long  time  the  Germans  expected  that  the  ex- 
penses of  the  war  would  be  paid  from  the  indemnities  to 
be  recovered  by  Germany  from  the  nations  at  war  with  it. 

Helfferich  shadowed  this  forth  in  his  speech  in  the 
Reichstag,  on  August  20,  19 15,  when  he  said:  "If  we 
wish  to  have  the  power  to  settle  the  terms  of  peace  ac- 
cording to  our  interests  and  our  requirements,  then  we 
must  not  forget  the  question  of  cost.  We  must  have  in 
view  that  the  whole  future  activity  of  our  people,  so  far 
as  this  is  at  all  possible,  shall  be  free  from  burdens.  The 
leaden  weight  of  billions  has  been  earned  by  the  instigators 
of  this  war,  and  in  the  future  they,  rather  than  we,  will 
drag  it  about  after  them." 

Of  course,  by  "instigators  of  the  war"  Helfferich  meant 
the  opponents  of  Germany,  but  I  think  that  unconsciously 
he  was  a  true  prophet  and  that  the  "leaden  weight  of  the 
billions"  which  this  war  has  cost  Germany  will  be  dragged 
about  after  the  war  by  Germany,  the  real  instigator  of 
this  world  calamity. 

In  December,  1915,  Helfferich  voiced  the  comfortable 
plea  that,  because  the  Germans  were  spending  their  money 
raised  by  the  war  loans  in  Germany,  the  weight  of  these 
loans  was  not  a  real  weight  upon  the  German  people.  He 
said:  "We  are  paying  the  money  almost  exclusively  to 
ourselves;  while  the  enemy  is  paying  its  loans  abroad — 
a  guarantee  that  in  the  future  we  shall  maintain  the 
advantage." 

This  belief  of  the  Germans  and  Helfferich  is  one  of 
the  notable  fallacies  of  the  war.    The  German  war  loans 


2o6        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

have  been  subscribed  mainly  by  the  great  companies  of 
Germany;  by  the  Savings  Banks,  the  Banks,  the  Life  and 
Fire  Insurance  and  Accident  Insurance  Companies,  etc. 

Furthermore,  these  loans  have  been  pyramided;  that 
is  to  say,  a  man  who  subscribed  and  paid  for  one  hundred 
thousand  marks  of  loan  number  one  could,  vi^hen  loan 
number  two  was  called  for,  take  the  bonds  he  had  bought 
of  loan  number  one  to  his  bank  and  on  his  agreement 
to  spend  the  proceeds  in  subscribing  to  loan  number  two, 
borrow  from  the  bank  eighty  thousand  marks  on  the  se- 
curity of  his  first  loan  bonds,  and  so  on. 

There  is  an  annual  increment,  not  easily  ascertainable 
with  exactness,  but  approximately  ascertainable  to  the 
wealth  of  every  country  in  the  world.  Just  as  when  a 
man  is  working  a  farm  there  is  in  normal  years  an  incre- 
ment or  accretion  of  wealth  or  income  to  him  above  the 
cost  of  the  production  of  the  products  of  the  soil  which 
he  sells,  there  is  such  an  annual  increment  to  the  wealth 
of  each  country  taken  as  a  whole.  Some  experts  have 
told  me  they  calculated  that,  at  the  outside,  in  prosperous 
peace  times  the  annual  increment  of  German  wealth  is 
ten  billion  marks. 

Now  when  we  have  the  annual  interest  to  be  paid  by 
Germany  exceeding  the  annual  increment  of  the  country, 
the  social  and  even  moral  bankruptcy  of  the  country  must 
ensue.  If  repudiation  of  the  loan  or  any  part  of  it  is  then 
forced,  the  loss  naturally  falls  upon  those  who  have  taken 
the  loan.  The  working-man  or  small  capitalist,  who  put 
all  his  savings  in  the  war  loan,  is  without  support  for  his 
old  age,  and  so  with  the  man  who  took  insurance  in  the 
Insurance  Companies  or  put  his  savings  in  a  bank.  If 
that  bank  becomes  bankrupt  through  repudiation  of  the 
war  loan,  you  then  have  the  country  in  a  position  where 
the  able-bodied  are  all  working  to  pay  what  they  can  to- 
wards the  interest  of  the  government  loan,  after  earning 
enough  to  keep  themselves  and  their  families  alive;  and 


MAINLY  COMMERCIAL  <v20 

the  old  and  the  young,  without  support  and  deprived  of 
their  savings,  become  mere  poor-house  burdens  on  the 
community. 

Ah-eady  the  mere  interest  of  the  war  loan  of  Germany 
amounts  to  four  bilhons  of  marks  a  year;  to  this  must  be 
added,  of  course,  the  interest  of  the  previous  indebtedness 
of  the  country  and  of  each  poHtical  subdivision  thereof, 
including  cities,  all  of  which  have  added  to  their  before- 
the-war  debt,  by  incurring  great  debts  to  help  the  desti- 
tute in  this  war;  and,  of  course,  to  all  this  must  be  added 
the  expenses  of  the  administration  of  the  government  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  army  and  navy. 

It  is  the  contemplation  of  this  state  of  affairs,  when  he 
is  convinced  that  indemnities  are  not  to  be  exacted  from 
other  countries,  that  will  do  most  to  persuade  the  average 
intelligent  German  business  man  that  peace  must  be  had 
at  any  cost. 


CHAPTER  XIV 
WORK  FOR  THE  GERMANS 

THE  Interests  of  Germany  in  France,  Great  Britain 
and  Russia  were  placed  with  our  American  Ambas- 
sadors in  these  countries.  This,  of  course,  entailed  much 
work  upon  our  Embassy,  because  we  were  the  medium  of 
communication  between  the  German  Government  and 
these  Ambassadors.  I  found  it  necessary  to  estaWish  a 
special  department  to  look  after  these  matters.  At  its 
head  was  Barclay  Rives  who  had  been  for  many  years 
in  our  diplomatic  service  and  who  joined  my  Embassy 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  First  Secretary  of  our  Em- 
bassy in  Vienna  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  he  spoke  Ger- 
man perfectly  and  was  acquainted  with  many  Germans 
and  Austrians.  Inquiries  about  Germans  who  were  pris- 
oners, negotiations  relative  to  the  treatment  of  German 
prisoners,  and  so  on,  came  under  this  department. 

One  example  will  show  the  nature  of  this  work.  When 
the  Germans  invaded  France,  a  German  cavalry  patrol 
with  two  officers,  von  Schierstaedt  and  Count  Schwerin, 
and  several  men  penetrated  as  far  as  the  forest  of  Fon- 
tainebleau,  south  of  Paris.  There  they  got  out  of  touch 
with  the  German  forces  and  wandered  about  for  days  in 
the  forest.  In  the  course  of  their  wanderings  they  requisi- 
tioned some  food  from  the  inhabitants,  and  took,  I  be- 
lieve, an  old  coat  for  one  of  the  officers  who  had  lost  his, 
and  requisitioned  a  wagon  to  carry  a  wounded  man.  After 
their  surrender  to  the  French,  the  two  officers  were  tried 
by  a  French  court  martial,  charged  with  pillaging  and 
sentenced  to  be  degraded  from  their  rank  and  transported 

208 


WORK  FOR  THE  GERMANS  209 

to  Cayenne  (the  Devil's  Island  of  the  Dreyfus  case).  The 
Germans  made  strong  representations,  and  our  very 
skilled  Ambassador  in  Paris,  the  Honourable  William  C. 
Sharp,  took  up  the  matter  with  the  Foreign  Office  and 
succeeded  in  preventing  the  transportation  of  the  of- 
ficers. The  sending  of  the  officers  and  men,  however,  into 
a  military  prison  where  they  were  treated  as  convicts 
caused  great  indignation  throughout  Germany.  The  of- 
ficers had  many  and  powerful  connections  in  their  own 
country  who  took  up  their  cause.  There  were  bitter  arti- 
cles in  the  German  press  and  caricatures  and  cartoons 
were  published. 

I  sent  Mr.  Rives  to  Paris  and  told  him.  not  to  leav^e 
until  he  had  seen  these  officers.  He  remained  in  Paris 
some  weeks  and  finally  through  Mr.  Sharp  obtained  per- 
mission to  visit  the  officers  in  the  military  prison.  Later 
the  French  showed  a  tendency  to  be  lenient  in  this  case, 
but  it  was  hard  to  find  a  way  for  the  French  Government 
to  back  down  gracefully.  Schierstaedt  having  become  in- 
sane in  the  meantime,  a  very  clever  way  out  of  the  dif- 
ficulty was  suggested,  I  believe  by  Mr.  Sharp.  Schier- 
staedt having  been  found  to  be  insane  was  presumably 
insane  at  the  time  of  the  patrol's  wandering  in  the  forest 
of  Fontainebleau.  As  he  was  the  senior  officer,  the  other 
officer  and  the  men  under  him  were  not  responsible  for 
obeying  his  commands.  The  result  was  that  Schwerin  and 
the  men  of  the  patrol  were  put  in  a  regular  prison  camp 
and  Schierstaedt  was  very  kindly  sent  by  the  P  rench  back 
to  Germany,  where  he  recovered  his  reason  sufficiently  to 
be  able  to  come  and  thank  me  for  the  efforts  made  on  his 
behalf. 

I  made  every  endeavour  so  far  as  it  lay  in  my  power  to 
oblige  the  Germans.  We  helped  them  in  the  exchange  of 
prisoners  and  the  care  of  German  property  in  enemy 
countries. 

There  were  rumours  in  Berlin  that  Germans  taken  as 


2IO        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

prisoners  in  German  African  Colonies  were  forced  to 
work  in  the  sun,  watched  and  beaten  by  coloured  guards. 
This  was  taken  up  by  one  of  the  Grand  Dukes  of  Meck- 
lenburg who  had  been  Governor  of  Togoland  and  who 
also  took  great  interest  in  sending  clothes,  etc.,  to  these 
prisoners.  Germany  demanded  that  the  prisoners  in 
Africa  be  sent  to  a  more  temperate  climate. 

Another  royalty  who  was  busied  with  prisoners'  affairs 
\^as  Prince  Max  of  Baden.  He  is  heir  to  the  throne  of 
Baden,  although  not  a  son  of  the  reigning  Duke.  He  Is 
very  popular  and,  for  my  part,  I  admire  him  greatly.  He 
travels  with  Emerson's  essays  in  his  pocket  and  keeps  up 
with  the  thought  and  progress  of  all  countries.  Baden 
will  be  indeed  happy  in  having  such  a  ruler.  Prince  Max 
was  a  man  so  reasonable,  so  human,  that  I  understand  that 
von  Jagow  was  in  favour  of  putting  him  at  the  head  of  a 
central  department  for  prisoners  of  war.  I  agreed  with 
von  Jagow  that  in  such  case  all  would  go  smoothly  and 
humanely.  Naturally,  von  Jagow  could  only  mildly  hint 
at  the  desirability  of  this  appointment.  A  prince,  heir 
to  one  of  the  thr©nes  of  Germany,  with  the  rank  of  Gen- 
eral in  the  army,  he  seemed  ideally  fitted  for  such  a  posi- 
tion, but  unfortunately  the  opposition  of  the  army  and, 
particularly,  of  the  representative  corps  commanders  was 
so  great  that  von  Jagow  told  me  the  plan  was  impossible 
of  realisation.  I  am  sure  if  Prince  Max  had  been  at  the 
head  of  such  a  department,  Germany  would  not  now  be 
suffering  from  the  odium  of  mistreating  its  prisoners, 
and  that  the  two  million  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany 
would  not  return  to  their  homes  imbued  with  an  undying 
hate. 

Prince  Max  was  very  helpful  in  connection  with  the 
American  mission  to  Russia  for  German  prisoners  which 
I  had  organised  and  which  I  have  described  in  the  chapter 
on  war  charities. 

All  complaints  made  by  the  Imperial  Government  with 


WORK  FOR  THE  GERMANS  211 

reference  to  the  treatment  of  German  prisoners,  and  so 
forth,  in  enemy  countries  were  first  given  to  me  and  trans- 
mitted by  our  Embassy  to  the  American  Ambassadors 
having  charge  of  German  interests  in  enemy  countries. 
All  this,  with  the  correspondence  ensuing,  made  a  great 
amount  of  clerical  work. 

J  think  that  every  day  I  received  one  or  more  Germans, 
who  were  anxious  about  prisoner  friends,  making  inquir- 
ies, and  wishing  to  consult  me  on  business  matters  in  the 
United  States,  etc.  All  of  these  people  showed  gratitude 
for  what  we  were  able  to  do  for  them,  but  their  gratitude 
was  only  a  drop  in  the  ocean  of  officially  inspired  hatred 
of  America. 


CHAPTER  XV 

WAR  CHARITIES 

AS  soon  as  the  war  was  declared  and  millions  of  men 
marched  forward  intent  upon  killing,  hundreds  of 
men  and  women  immediately  took  up  the  problem  of 
helping  the  soldiers,  the  wounded  and  the  prisoners  and 
of  caring  for  those  left  behind  by  the  men  who  had  gone 
to  the  front. 

The  first  war  charity  to  come  under  my  observation 
was  the  American  Red  Cross.  Two  units  containing  three 
doctors  and  about  twelve  nurses,  each,  were  sent  to  Ger- 
many by  the  American  National  Red  Cross.  Before  their 
arrival  I  took  up  with  the  German  authorities  the  ques- 
tions as  to  whether  these  would  be  accepted  and  where 
they  would  be  placed.  The  German  authorities  accepted 
the  units  and  at  first  decided  to  send  one  to  each  front. 
The  young  man  assigned  to  the  West  front  was  Gold- 
schmidt  Rothschild,  one  of  the  last  descendants  of  the 
great  Frankfort  family  of  Rothschild.  He  had  been  at- 
tached to  the  German  Embassy  in  London  before  the  war. 
The  one  assigned  to  the  unit  for  the  East  front  was  Count 
Helie  de  Talleyrand.  Both  of  these  young  men  spoke 
English  perfectly  and  were  chosen  for  that  reason,  and 
both  have  many  friends  in  England  and  America. 

Talleyrand  was  of  a  branch  of  the  celebrated  Talley- 
rand family  and  possessed  German  citizenship.  During 
the  Napoleonic  era  the  great  Talleyrand  married  one 
of  his  nephews  to  a  Princess  of  Courland  who,  with  her 
sister,  was  joint  heiress  of  the  principality  of  Sagan  in 
Germany.     The  share  of  the  other  sister  was  bought  by 


WAR  CHARITIES  213 

the  sister  who  married  young  Talleyrand,  and  the  de- 
scendants of  that  union  became  princes  of  Sagan  and  held 
the  Italian  title  of  Duke  de  Dino  and  the  French  title  of 
Duke  de  Valengay. 

Some  of  the  descendants  of  this  nephew  of  the  great 
Talleyrand  remained  in  Germany,  and  this  young  Talley- 
rand, assigned  to  the  Red  Cross  unit,  belonged  to  that 
branch.  Others  settled  in  France,  and  among  these  was 
the  last  holder  of  the  title  and  the  Duke  de  Dino,  who 
married,  successively,  two  Americans,  Miss  Curtis  and 
Mrs.  Sampson.  It  was  a  custom  in  this  family  that  the 
holder  of  the  principal  title,  that  of  the  Prince  of  Sagan, 
allowed  the  next  two  members  in  succession  to  bear  the 
titles  of  Duke  de  Dino  and  Duke  de  Valangay.  Before 
the  last  Prince  of  Sagan  died  in  PVance,  his  son  Helie  mar- 
ried the  American,  Anna  Gould,  who  had  divorced  the 
Count  Castcllane.  On  the  death  of  his  father  and  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  statutes  of  the  House  of  Sagan  the 
members  of  the  family  who  were  German  citizens  held  a 
family  council  and,  with  the  approval  of  the  Emperor  of 
Germany,  passed  over  the  succession  from  Anna  Gould's 
husband  to  her  son,  so  that  her  son  has  now  the  right  to 
the  title  and  not  his  father,  but  the  son  must  become  a 
German  citizen  at  his  majority. 

The  younger  brother  of  the  husband  of  Anna  Gould 
bears  the  title  of  Duke  de  Valencay  and  is  the  divorced 
husband  of  the  daughter  of  Levi  P.  Morton,  formerly 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States.  This  young  Talley- 
rand to  whom  I  have  referred  and  who  was  assigned  to 
the  American  Red  Cross  unit,  although  he  was  a  German 
by  nationality,  did  not  wish  to  fight  in  this  war  against 
France  in  which  country  he  had  so  many  friends  and  rela- 
tions and,  therefore,  this  assignment  to  the  American  Red 
Cross  was  most  welcome  to  him. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  American  doctors  and  nurses  in 
Berlin,  it  was  decided  to  send  both  units  to  the  East  front 


214        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  to  put  one  in  the  small  Silesian  town  of  Glelwitz  and 
the  other  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Kosel.  Count 
Talleyrand  went  with  these  two  units,  Goldschmidt  Roths- 
child being  attached  to  the  Prussian  Legation  in  Munich. 

We  had  a  reception  in  the  Embassy  for  these  doctors 
and  nurses  which  was  attended  by  Prince  Hatzfeld,  Duke 
of  Trachenberg,  who  was  head  of  the  German  Red  Cross, 
and  other  Germans  interested  in  this  line  of  work.  The 
Gleiwitz  and  Kosel  units  remained  in  these  towns  for 
about  a  year  until  the  American  Red  Cross  withdrew  its 
units  from  Europe. 

At  about  the  time  of  the  withdrawal  of  these  units,  I 
had  heard  much  of  the  sufferings  of  German  prisoners  in 
Russia,  I  had  many  conversation  with  Zimmermann  of 
the  German  Foreign  Office  and  Prince  Hatzfeld  on  this 
question,  as  well  as  with  Prince  Max  of  Baden,  the  heir 
presumptive  to  the  throne  of  that  country;  and  I  finally 
arranged  that  such  of  these  American  doctors  and  nurses 
as  volunteered  should  be  sent  to  Russia  to  do  what  they 
could  for  the  German  prisoners  of  war  there.  Nine  doc- 
tors and  thirty-eight  nurses  volunteered.  They  were  given 
a  great  reception  in  Berlin,  the  German  authorities  placed 
a  large  credit  in  the  hands  of  this  mission,  and,  after  I 
had  obtained  through  our  State  Department  the  consent 
of  the  Russian  Government  for  the  admission  of  the  mis- 
sion, it  started  from  Berlin  for  Petrograd.  The  German 
authorities  and  the  Germans,  as  a  whole,  were  very  much 
pleased  with  this  arrangement.  Officers  of  the  Prussian 
army  were  present  at  the  departure  of  the  trains  and  gave 
flowers  to  all  the  nurses.  It  is  very  unfortunate  that  after 
their  arrival  in  Russia  this  mission  was  hampered  in  every 
way,  and  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  obtaining  permis- 
sion to  do  any  work  at  all.  Many  of  them,  however, 
managed  to  get  in  positions  where  they  assisted  the  Ger- 
man prisoners.  For  instance,  in  one  town  where  there 
were  about  five  thousand  Germans  who  had  been  sent 


WAR  CHARITIES  215 

there  to  live  one  of  our  doctors  managed  to  get  appointed 
as  city  physician  and,  aided  by  several  of  the  American 
nurses,  was  able  to  do  a  great  work  for  the  German  popu- 
lation. Others  of  our  nurses  managed  to  get  as  far  as 
Tomsk  in  Siberia  and  others  were  scattered  through  the 
Russian  Empire. 

Had  this  mission  under  Dr.  Snoddy  been  able  to  carry 
out  its  work  as  originally  planned,  it  would  not  only  have 
done  much  good  to  the  German  prisoners  of  war,  but 
would  have  helped  a  great  deal  to  do  away  with  the  bitter 
feeling  entertained  by  Germans  towards  Americans.  Even 
with  the  limited  opportunity  given  this  mission,  it  undoubt- 
edly materially  helped  the  prisoners. 

On  arriving  in  Berlin  on  their  way  home  to  America 
from  Gleiwitz  and  Kosel,  the  doctors  and  nurses  of  these 
American  units  were  all  awarded  the  German  Red  Cross 
Order  of  the  second  class  and  those  who  had  been  in 
Austria  were  similarly  decorated  by  the  Austro-Hungar- 
ian  Government. 

Among  those  who  devoted  themselves  to  works  of 
charity  during  this  war  no  one  stands  higher  than  Herbert 
C.  Hoover. 

I  cannot  find  words  to  express  my  admiration  for  this 
man  whose  great  talents  for  organisation  were  placed  at 
the  service  of  humanity.  Every  one  knows  of  what  he  ac- 
complished in  feeding  the  inhabitants  of  Belgium  and 
Northern  France.  Mr.  Hoover  asked  me  to  become 
one  of  the  chairmen  of  the  International  Commission  for 
the  Relief  of  Belgium  and  I  was  happy  to  have  the  op- 
portunity in  Berlin  to  second  his  efforts.  There  was  con- 
siderable business  in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  com- 
mission. I  had  many  interviews  with  those  in  authority 
with  reference  to  getting  their  ships  through,  etc.  Mr. 
Hoover  and  I  called  on  the  Chancellor  and  endeavoured 
to  get  him  to  remit  the  fine  of  forty  million  francs  a  month 
which  the  Germans  had  imposed  upon  Belgium.     This, 


2i6        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

however,  the  Chancellor  refused  to  do.  Later  on  in 
April,  19 1 5,  I  was  able  as  an  eye-witness  to  see  how  ef- 
ficiently Mr.  Hoover's  organisation  fed,  in  addition  to 
the  people  of  Belgium,  the  French  population  in  that  part 
of  Northern  France  in  the  occupation  of  the  Germans. 

Mr.  Hoover  surrounded  himself  with  an  able  staff, 
Mr.  Vernon  Kellogg  and  others,  and  in  America  men 
hke  Mr.  A.  J.  Hemphill  were  his  devoted  supporters. 

Early  in  19 15,  Mr.  Ernest  P.  Bicknell,  who  had  first 
come  to  Germany  representing  the  American  Red  Cross, 
returned  representing  not  only  that  organisation  but  also 
the  Rockefeller  Foundation.  With  him  was  Mr.  Wick- 
liffe  Rose,  also  of  the  Rockefeller  Foundation;  and  with 
these  two  gentlemen  I  took  up  the  question  of  the  relief 
of  Poland.  Mr.  Rose  and  Mr.  Bicknell  together 
visited  Poland  and  saw  with  their  own  eyes  the  necessity 
for  relief.  A  meeting  was  held  in  the  Reichstag  attended 
by  Prince  Hatzfeld  of  the  German  Red  Cross,  Director 
Guttmann,  of  the  Dresdener  Bank,  Geheimrat  Lewald,  of 
the  Imperial  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  representing  the 
German  Government,  and  many  others  connected  with 
the  government,  military  and  financial  interests  of  Ger- 
many. 

The  Commission  for  the  Relief  in  Poland,  of  which  I 
was  to  be  chairman,  was  organised  and  included  the  Span- 
ish Ambassador,  His  Excellency  the  Bishop  of  Posen, 
the  Prince  Bishop  of  Cracow,  Jacob  H.  Schiff  of  New- 
York,  and  others.  Messrs.  Warwick,  Greene  and  Wads- 
worth  were  to  take  up  the  actual  executive  work. 

In  conjunction  with  Messrs.  Rose  and  Bicknell,  I  drew 
up  a  sort  of  treaty,  having  particularly  in  mind  certain 
difficulties  encountered  by  the  American  Relief  Commis- 
sion in  Belgium.  The  main  point  in  this  treaty  was  that 
the  German  Government  agreed  not  to  requisition  either 
food  or  money  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  to  be  re- 
lieved,  which  territory  comprised  that  part  of   Poland 


WAR  CHARITIES  217 

within  German  occupation  up  to  within,  as  I  recall  it, 
fifty  kilometres  of  the  firing  line.  The  one  exception  was 
that  a  fine  might  be  levied  on  a  community  where  all  the 
inhabitants  had  made  themselves  jointly  and  severally 
liable  according  to  the  provisions  of  the  Hague  Conven- 
tion. The  Rockefeller  Foundation  on  its  part  agreed  to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  the  executive  work  of  the  com- 
mission. This  treaty,  after  being  submitted  to  General 
Hindcnburg  and  approved  by  him,  was  signed  by  Dr. 
Lewald,  representing  the  German  Government,  by  Mr. 
Bicknell,  representing  the  Rockefeller  Foundation,  and 
by  me,  representing  the  new  commission  for  the  relief  of 
Poland. 

Work  was  immediately  commenced  under  this  arrange- 
ment and,  so  far  as  possible,  food  was  purchased  in  Hol- 
land and  Denmark,  but  there  was  httle  to  be  had  in  these 
countries.  The  Allies,  however,  refused  to  allow  food 
to  enter  Germany  for  the  purpose  of  this  commission,  and 
so  the  matter  fell  through.  Later,  when  the  Allies  were 
willing  to  permit  the  food  to  enter,  it  was  the  German 
Government  that  refused  to  reaffirm  this  treaty  and  re- 
fused to  agree  that  the  German  army  of  occupation  should 
not  requisition  food  in  occupied  Poland.  Of  course,  un- 
der these  circumstances,  no  one  could  expect  the  Allies  to 
consent  to  the  entry  of  food;  because  the  obvious  result 
would  be  that  the  Germans  would  immediately,  follow- 
ing the  precedent  established  by  them  in  Northern 
France,  take  all  the  food  produced  in  the  country  for  their 
army  and  the  civil  population  of  Germany,  and  allow  the 
Poles  to  be  fed  with  food  sent  in  frcMn  outside,  while  per- 
haps their  labour  was  utilised  in  the  very  fields  the  prod- 
ucts of  which  were  destined  for  German  consumption. 

There  is  no  question  that  the  sufferings  of  the  people  of 
Poland  have  been  very  great,  and  when  the  history  of 
Poland  during  the  war  comes  to  be  written  the  world  will 
stand  aghast  at  the  story  of  her  sufferings.     It  is  a  great 


2i8        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

pity  that  these  various  schemes  for  relief  did  not  suc- 
ceed. The  Rockefeller  Commission,  however,  up  to  the 
time  I  left  Germany  did  continue  to  carry  on  some  meas- 
ure of  relief  and  succeeded  in  getting  in  condensed  milk, 
to  some  extent,  for  the  children  of  that  unfortunate  coun- 
try. These  negotiations  brought  me  in  contact  with  a 
number  of  Poles  resident  in  Berlin,  whom  I  found  most 
eager  to  do  what  they  could  to  relieve  the  situation.  I 
wish  here  to  express  my  admiration  for  the  work  of  the 
Rockefeller  Commission  in  Europe.  Not  only  were  the 
ideas  of  the  Commission  excellent  and  businesslike  but  the 
men  selected  to  carry  them  into  effect  were  without  ex- 
ception men  of  high  character  and  possessed  of  rare  ex- 
ecutive ability. 

As  I  have  said  in  a  previous  chapter,  I  was  ridiculed 
in  the  American  newspapers  because  I  had  suggested,  in 
answer  to  a  cable  of  the  League  of  Mercy,  that  some 
work  should  be  done  for  the  prisoners  of  war.  I  do  not 
know  whether  the  great  work  undertaken  by  Dr.  John 
R.  Mott  and  his  associates  was  suggested  by  my  answer 
or  not;  that  does  not  matter.  But  this  work  undertaken 
by  the  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  certainly  mattered  a  great 
deal  to  the  prisoners  of  war  in  Europe.  Dr.  Mott  after 
serving  on  the  Mexican  Commission,  has  gone  to  Russia 
as  a  member  of  the  Commission  to  that  country. 

The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  organisation  headed  by  Dr.  Mott, 
who  was  most  ably  assisted  by  the  Reverend  Archibald 
C.  Harte,  took  up  this  work,  which  was  financed,  I  have 
been  told,  by  the  McCormick  family  of  Chicago,  Cleve- 
land H.  Dodge,  John  D.  Rockefeller  and  others.  Mr. 
Harte  obtained  permission  from  the  German  authorities 
for  the  erection  of  meeting  halls  and  for  work  in  Ger- 
man camps.  When  he  had  obtained  this  authorisation 
from  Germany  he  went  to  Russia,  where  he  was  able  to 
get  a  similar  authorisation. 

At  first  in  Russia,  I  have  heard,  the  prisoners  of  war 


WAR  CHARITIES  219 

were  allowed  great  liberty  and  lived  unguarded  in  Si- 
berian villages  where  they  obtained  milk,  bread,  butter, 
eggs  and  honey  at  very  reasonable  rates.  As  the  war 
went  on  they  were  more  and  more  confined  to  barracks 
and  there  their  situation  was  sad  indeed.  In  the  winter 
season,  it  is  dark  at  three  in  the  afternoon  and  remains 
dark  until  ten  the  following  morning.  Of  course,  I  did 
not  see  the  Russian  prison  camps.  The  work  carried  on 
there  was  similar  to  that  carried  on  in  the  German  camps 
by  Mr.  Harte  and  his  band  of  devoted  assistants. 

I  was  particularly  interested  in  this  work  because  I 
hoped  that  the  aid  given  to  the  German  prisoners  of  war 
in  Russia  would  help  to  do  away  with  the  great  hate 
and  prejudice  against  Americans  in  Germany.  So  I  did 
all  I  could,  not  only  to  forward  Mr.  Harte's  work,  but 
to  suggest  and  organise  the  sending  of  the  expedition  of 
nurses  and  doctors,  which  I  have  already  described,  to 
the  Russian  camps. 

Of  course,  Mr.  Harte  in  this  work  did  not  attempt 
to  cover  all  the  prison  camps  in  Germany.  He  did 
much  to  help  the  mental  and  physical  conditions  of  the 
prisoners  in  Ruhleben,  the  English  civilian  camp  near 
Berlin.  The  American  Y.  M.  C.  A.  built  a  great  hall 
where  religious  exercises  were  held,  plays  and  lectures 
given,  and  where  prisoners  had  a  good  place  to  read 
and  write  in  during  the  day.  A  library  was  established 
in  this  building. 

The  work  carried  on  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  may  be 
briefly  described  as  coming  under  the  following  heads : 
religious  activities;  educational  activities;  work  shops, 
and  gardens;  physical  exercises  and  out-door  sports;  diet 
kitchens  for  convalescents;  libraries  and  music,  including 
orchestra,  choruses,  and  so  on. 

When  I  left  Germany  on  the  breaking  of  diplomatic 
relations,  a  number  of  these  Y.  M.  C.  A.  workers  left 
with  me. 


2«o        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

The  German  women  exhibited  notable  quahties  in  war. 
They  engaged  in  the  Red  Cross  work,  including  the 
preparation  of  supplies  and  bandages  for  the  hospitals, 
and  the  first  day  of  mobilisation  saw  a  number  of  young 
girls  at  every  railway  station  in  the  country  with  food 
and  drink  for  the  passing  soldiers.  At  railway  junctions 
and  terminals  in  the  large  cities,  stations  were  established 
where  these  Red  Cross  workers  gave  a  warm  meal  to 
the  soldiers  passing  through.  In  these  terminal  stations 
there  were  also  women  workers  possessed  of  sufficient 
skill  to  change  the  dressings  of  the  lightly  wounded. 

On  the  Bellevuestrasse,  Frau  von  Ihne,  wife  of  the 
great  architect,  founded  a  home  for  blinded  soldiers.  In 
this  home  soldiers  were  taught  to  make  brooms,  brushes, 
baskets,  etc. 

German  women  who  had  country  places  turned  these 
into  homes  for  the  convalescent  wounded.  But  perhaps 
the  most  noteworthy  was  the  National  Frauendienst  or 
Service  for  Women,  organised  the  first  day  of  the  war. 
The  relief  given  by  the  State  to  the  wives  and  children  of 
soldiers  was  distributed  from  stations  in  Berlin,  and  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  each  of  these  stations  the  Frauen- 
dienst established  an  office  where  women  were  always  in 
attendance,  ready  to  gi\  e  help  and  advice  to  the  soldiers' 
wives.  There  there  were  card-indexes  of  all  the  people 
within  the  district  and  of  their  needs.  At  the  time  I 
left  Germany  I  believe  that  there  were  upwards  of  seven 
thousand  women  engaged  in  Berlin  in  social  service,  in 
instructing  the  women  in  the  new  art  of  cooking  without 
milk,  eggs  or  fat  and  seeing  to  it  that  the  children  had 
their  fair  share  of  milk.  It  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  these 
social  workers  that  the  rate  of  infant  mortality  in  Berlin 
decreased  during  the  war. 

A  war  always  causes  a  great  unsettling  in  business 
and  trade;  people  no  longer  buy  as  many  articles  of  lux- 
ury and  the  workers  engaged  in  the  production  of  these 


WAR  CHARITIES  221 

articles  are  thrown  out  of  employment.  In  Germany,  the 
National  Women's  Service,  acting  with  the  labour  ex- 
changes, did  its  best  to  find  new  positions  for  those  thrown 
out  of  work.  Women  were  helped  over  a  period  of  pov- 
erty until  they  could  find  new  places  and  were  instructed 
in  new  trades. 

Many  women  engaged  in  the  work  of  sending  pack- 
ages containing  food  and  comforts  to  the  soldiers  at  the 
front  and  to  the  German  prisoners  of  war  in  other  coun- 
tries. 

Through  the  efforts  of  the  American  Association  of 
Commerce  and  Trade,  and  the  Embassy,  a  free  restau- 
rant was  established  in  Berlin  in  one  of  the  poorer  dis- 
tricts. About  two  hundred  people  were  fed  here  daily 
in  a  hall  decorated  with  flags  and  plants.  This  was  con- 
tinued even  after  we  left  Germany. 

At  Christmas,  19 16,  Mrs.  Gerard  and  I  visited  this 
kitchen  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wolf  and  General  von  Kessel, 
Commander  of  the  Mark  of  Brandenburg,  and  one  of 
his  daughters.  Presents  were  distributed  to  the  children 
and  the  mothers  received  an  order  for  goods  in  one  of 
the  department  stores.  The  German  Christmas  songs 
were  sung  and  when  a  little  German  child  offered  a  prayer 
for  peace,  I  do  not  think  there  was  any  one  present  wh« 
could  refrain  from  weeping. 

Many  of  the  German  women  of  title,  princesses,  etc., 
established  base  hospitals  of  their  own  and  seemed  to 
manage  these  hospitals  with  success. 


CHAPTER  XVr 

HATE 

ON  my  way  from  Berlin  to  America,  in  February, 
19 17,  at  a  dinner  in  Paris,  I  met  the  celebrated 
Italian  historian,  Ferrero.  In  a  conversation  with  him 
after  dinner,  I  reminded  him  of  the  fact  that  both  he  and 
a  Frenchman,  named  Huret,  who  had  written  on  Amer- 
ica, had  stated  in  their  books  that  the  thing  which  struck 
them  most  in  the  study  of  the  American  people  was  the 
absence  of  hate. 

Ferrero  recalled  this  and  in  the  discussion  which  fol- 
lowed and  in  which  the  French  novelist.  Marcel  Prevost, 
took  part,  all  agreed  that  there  was  more  hate  in  Europe 
than  in  America;  first,  because  the  peoples  of  Europe 
were  confined  in  small  space  and,  secondly,  because  the 
European,  whatever  his  rank  or  station,  lacked  the  op- 
portunities for  advancement  and  consequently  the  eager- 
ness to  press  on  ahead,  and  that  fixing  of  the  thought  on 
the  future,  instead  of  the  past,  which  formed  part  of  the 
American  character. 

In  a  few  hours  in  Europe  it  is  possible  to  travel  in  an 
automobile  across  countries  where  the  people  differ  vio- 
lently from  the  countries  surrounding  them,  not  only  in 
language,  customs  and  costumes,  but  also  in  methods  of 
thought  and  physical  appearance. 

The  day  I  left  Berlin  I  went  to  see  Herr  von  Gwinner, 
head  of  the  Deutsche  Bank,  with  reference  to  a  charitable 
fund  which  had  been  collected  for  widows  and  orphans 
in  Germany.  In  our  talk,  von  Gwinner  said  that  Euro- 
peans envied  America  because  we  seemed  to  be  abk  to 


HATE  223 

assimilate  all  those  people  who,  as  soon  as  they  landed 
on  our  shores,  sought  to  forget  their  old  race  hatreds  and 
endeavoured,  as  speedily  as  possible,  to  adopt  American 
clothes,  language  and  thought.  I  told  him  I  thought  it 
was  because  in  our  country  we  did  not  try  to  force  any 
one;  that  there  was  nothing  to  prevent  a  Pole  speaking 
Polish  and  wearing  Polish  dress,  if  he  chose;  that  the 
only  weapon  we  used  against  those  who  desired  to  up- 
hold the  customs  of  Europe  was  that  of  ridicule;  and  that 
it  was  the  repressive  measures  such  as,  for  example,  the 
repressive  action  taken  by  Prussia  against  the  Poles  and 
the  Danes,  the  Alsatians  and  the  Lorrainers,  that  had 
aroused  a  combative  instinct  in  these  peoples  and  made 
them  cling  to  every  vestige  of  their  former  nationality. 

At  first,  with  the  coming  of  war,  the  concentrated  hate 
of  the  German  people  seemed  to  be  turned  upon  the 
Russians.  Even  Liebknecht,  when  he  called  upon  me  in 
order  to  show  that  he  had  not  been  shot,  as  reported  in 
America,  spoke  of  the  perils  of  Czarismus  and  t!ie  hatred 
of  the  German  people  for  the  Russians.  But  later,  and 
directed  by  the  master  hand  of  the  governing  class,  all 
the  hatred  of  the  Germans  was  concentrated  upon  Eng- 
land. 

The  cartoon  in  Punch  representing  a  Prussian  family 
having  its  morning  "Hate"  was,  in  some  aspects,  not  at 
all  exaggerated.  Hate  in  Germany  is  cultivated  as  a 
noble  passion,  and,  during  the  war,  divines  and  generals 
vied  with  each  other  in  its  praise.  Early  in  19 17,  the 
Prussian  General  in  command  at  Limburg  made  a  speech 
in  which  he  extolled  the  advantages  of  hate  and  said  that 
there  was  nothing  like  getting  up  in  the  morning  after 
having  passed  a  night  in  thought  and  dreams  of  hate. 

The  phrase  "Gott  strafe  England"  seemed  to  be  all 
over  Germany.  It  was  printed  on  stamps  to  be  affixed 
to  the  back  of  letters  like  our  Red  Cross  stamps.  I  even 
found  my  German  body  servant  in  the  Embassy  affixing 


224        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

these  stamps  to  the  back  of  all  letters,  official  and  other- 
wise, that  were  sent  out.  He  was  stopped  when  dis- 
covered. Paper  money  was  stamped  with  the  words : 
"Gott  strafe  England,"  "und  America"  being  often  added 
as  the  war  progressed  and  America  refused  to  change  the 
rules  of  the  game  and  stop  the  shipment  of  supplies  to  the 
Allies. 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  Lissauer's  "Hymn  of  Hate." 
It  is  not  extraordinary  that  one  man  in  a  country  at  war 
should  produce  a  composition  of  this  kind;  but  it  is  ex- 
traordinary as  showing  the  state  of  mind  of  the  whole 
country,  that  the  Emperor  should  have  given  him  the  high 
order  of  the  Red  Eagle  of  the  Second  Class  as  a  reward 
for  having  composed  this  extraordinary  document. 

Undoubtedly  at  first  the  British  prisoners  of  war  were 
treated  very  roughly  and  were  starved  and  beaten  by 
their  guards  on  the  way  from  the  front  to  the  concentra- 
tion camps.  Officers,  objects  usually  considered  more  than 
sacred  in  Germany,  even  when  wounded  were  subjected 
to  brutal  treatment  and  in  the  majority  of  their  prisons 
were  treated  more  like  convicts  than  officers  and  gentle- 
men. 

As  the  Germans  gradually  awoke  to  the  fact  that  Presi- 
dent Wilson  was  not  afraid  of  the  German  vote  and  that 
the  export  of  supplies  from  America  would  not  be 
stopped,  this  stream  of  hate  was  turned  on  America. 
There  was  a  belief  in  Germany  that  President  Wilson 
was  opposed  by  a  majority  of  people  of  the  United  States, 
that  he  did  not  represent  the  real  sentiment  of  America, 
and  that  the  sentiment  there  was  favourable  to  Germany. 

Unfortunately  many  Americans  in  Germany  encour- 
aged the  German  people  and  the  German  Government 
in  this  belief.  Americans  used  to  travel  about,  giving 
lectures  and  making  speeches  attacking  their  own  country 
and  their  own  President,  and  the  newspapers  published 


HATE  225 

many  letters  of  similar  import  from  Americans  resident 
in  Germany. 

One  of  the  most  active  of  these  was  a  man  named 
Maurice  Somborn,  a  German  American,  who  represented 
in  Germany  an  American  business  house.  He  made  it 
a  practice  to  go  about  in  Berlin  and  other  cities  and  stand 
up  in  cafes  and  beer  halls  in  order  to  make  addresses  at- 
tacking the  President  and  the  United  States.  So  bold  did 
he  become  that  he  even,  in  the  presence  of  a  number  of 
people  in  my  room,  one  day  said  that  he  would  like  to 
hang  Secretary  Bryan  as  high  as  Haman  and  President 
Wilson  one  foot  higher.  The  American  newspapers 
stated  that  I  called  a  servant  and  had  him  thrown  out  of 
the  Embassy.  This  statement  is  not  entirely  true :  I  self- 
ishly kept  that  pleasure  for  myself. 

The  case  of  Somborn  gave  me  an  idea  and  I  cabled  to 
the  Department  of  State  asking  authority  to  tscke  up  the 
passports  of  all  Americans  who  abused  their  own  country 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  violated  the  right,  by  their 
abuse,  to  the  protection  of  a  passport.  The  Department 
of  State  sustained  my  view  and,  by  my  direction,  the 
consul  in  Dresden  took  up  the  passports  of  a  singer  named 
Rains  and  a  gentleman  of  leisure  named  Recknagel  ,vho 
had  united  in  addressing  a  letter  to  the  Dresden  news- 
papers abusing  the  President.  It  was  some  time  before  I 
got  Somborn's  passport  and  I  later  on  received  from  him 
the  apologies  of  a  broken  and  contrite  man  and  obtained 
permission  from  Washington  to  issue  him  a  passport  in 
order  to  enable  him  to  return  to  America. 

Of  course,  these  vllifiers  of  their  own  counti*y  were 
loud  in  their  denunciations  of  me,  but  the  prospect  of  los- 
ing the  protection  of  their  passports  kept  many  of  these 
men  from  open  and  treasonable  denunciation  of  their  own 
country. 

The  Government  actually  encouraged  the  formation  of 
societies  which  had  for  tiieir  very  object  the  scattering 


226        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

of  literature  attacking  the  President  and  the  United 
States.  The  most  conspicuous  of  these  organisations  was 
the  so-called  League  of  Truth.  Permanently  connected 
with  it  was  an  American  dentist  who  had  been  in  jail  in 
America  and  who  had  been  expelled  from  Dresden  by  the 
police  authorities  there.  The  secretary  was  a  German 
woman  who  posed  as  an  American,  and  had  been  on  the 
stage  as  a  snake  dancer.  The  principal  organiser  was  a 
German  named  Marten  who  had  won  the  favour  of  the 
German  authorities  by  writing  a  book  on  Belgium  deny- 
ing that  any  atrocities  had  taken  place  there.  Marten  se- 
cured subscriptions  from  many  Germans  and  Americans 
resident  in  Germany,  opened  headquarters  in  rooms  on 
the  Potsdamerstrasse  and  engaged  in  the  business  of  send- 
ing out  pamphlets  and  leaflets  attacking  America.  One 
of  his  principal  supporters  was  a  man  named  Stoddard 
who  had  made  a  fortune  by  giving  travel  lectures  in 
America  and  who  had  retired  to  his  handsome  villa,  in 
Meran,  in  Austria.  Stoddard  issued  a  pamphlet  en- 
titled, "What  shall  we  do  with  Wilson?"  and  some  atro- 
cious attempts  at  verse,  all  of  which  were  sent  broadcast 
by  the  League  of  Truth. 

This  was  done  with  the  express  permission  of  the  Ger- 
man authorities  because  during  the  war  no  societies  or 
associations  of  any  kind  could  meet,  be  formed  or  act 
without  the  express  permission  and  superintendence  of 
both  the  military  and  police  authorities.  Any  one  who 
has  lived  in  Germany  knows  that  it  would  be  impossible 
even  in  peace  times  to  hang  a  sign  or  a  wreath  on  a  public 
statue  without  the  permission  of  the  local  authorities;  and 
yet  on  the  Emperor's  birthday,  January  twenty-seventh, 
19 16,  this  League  of  Truth  was  permitted  to  place  an 
enormous  wreath,  over  four  feet  high,  on  the  statue  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  with  an  American  flag  draped  in 
mourning  attached,  and  a  silk  banner  on  which  was  printed 
in  large  letters  of  gold,  "Wilson  and  his  press  are  not 


HATE  227 

America."  The  League  of  Truth  then  had  a  photograph 
taken  of  this  wreath  which  was  sent  all  over  Germany, 
again,  of  course,  with  the  permission  of  the  authorities. 
The  wreath  and  attachments,  in  spite  of  frequent  protests 
on  my  part  to  Zimmermann  and  von  Jagow,  remained  in 
this  conspicuous  position  until  the  sixth  of  May,  19 16. 
After  the  receipt  of  the  Sussex  Note,  again  called  von 
Jagow's  attention  to  the  presence  of  this  wreath,  and  I 
told  him  that  if  this  continuing  insult  to  our  flag  and  Presi- 
dent was  not  taken  away  that  I  would  go  the  next  day  with 
a  cinematograph  operator  and  take  it  away  myself.  The 
next  day  the  wreath  had  disappeared. 

This  League,  in  circulars,  occasionally  attacked  me, 
and  in  a  circular  which  they  distributed  shortly  after  my 
return  to  Germany  at  the  end  of  December,  19 16,  it  was 
stated,  "What  do  you  think  of  the  American  Ambassa- 
dor? When  he  came  to  Germany  after  his  trip  to  Amer- 
ica he  brought  a  French  woman  with  him."  And  the 
worst  of  this  statement  was  that  it  was  true.  But  the 
League,  of  course,  did  not  state  that  my  wife  came  with 
me  bringing  her  French  maid  by  the  express  permission 
of  the  German  Foreign  Office. 

I  have  had  occasion  many  times  to  wonder  at  the 
curious  twists  of  the  German  mind,  but  I  have  never  been 
able  to  understand  on  what  possible  theory  the  German 
Government  permitted  and  even  encouraged  the  exist- 
ence of  this  League  of  Truth.  Certainly  the  actions  of 
the  League,  headed  by  a  snake  dancer  and  a  dentist,  would 
not  terrorise  the  American  Congress,  President  Wilson 
or  me  into  falling  in  with  all  the  views  of  the  German 
Government,  and  if  the  German  Government  was  desir- 
ous of  either  the  President's  friendship  or  mine  why  was 
this  gang  of  good-for-nothings  allowed  to  insult  indis- 
criminately their  country,  their  President  and  their  Am- 
bassador? 

One  of  the  friends  of  Marten,  head  of  this  League,  was 


228        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

( )    ( , ) ,  a  man  who  at  the  time  he  was 

an  officer  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  accepted  a  large  sum  of  money  "for  expenses" 
from  Bernstorff. 

Of  course,  in  any  country  abroad  acceptance  by  an 
officer  of  money  from  a  foreign  Ambassador  could  not 
be  explained  and  could  have  only  one  result — a  blank 
wall  and  firing  party  for  the  receiver  of  foreign  pay. 
Perhaps  we  have  grown  so  indulgent,  so  soft  and  so  for- 
getful of  the  obhgations  which  officers  owe  to  their  flag 

and  country  that  on  (, )  's  return  from  Germany 

he  will  be  able  to  go  on  a  triumphant  lecture  tour  througk 
the  United  States. 

There  was  published  in  Berlin  in  English  a  rather  ri- 
diculous paper  called  the  Continental  Times,  owned  by  an 
Austrian  Jewess  who  had  been  married  to  an  Englishman. 
The  Foreign  Office,  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war,  prac- 
tically took  over  this  sheet  by  buying  monthly  many 
thousand  copies.  News  coloured  hysterically  to  favour 
the  Central  Empires  was  printed  in  this  paper,  which  was 
headed  "A  Paper  for  Americans,"  under  the  editorship 
of  an  Englishman  of  decent  family  named  Stanhope,  who, 
of  course,  in  consequence  did  not  have  to  inhabit  the 
prison  camp  of  Ruhleben.  ( )  was  a  contribu- 
tor to  this  newspaper,   and  scurrilous  articles  attacking 

President  Wilson  appeared.     Finally  ( ■, )  wrote 

a  lying  article  for  this  paper  in  which  he  charged  that 
Conger  of  the  Associated  Press  had  learned  of  Sir  Roger 
Casement's  proposed  expedition,  that  Conger  told  me; 
that  1  cabled  the  news  to  Washington  to  the  State  De- 
partment; and  that  a  member  of  President  Wilson's  Cab- 
inet then  gave  the  information  to  the  British  Ambassador. 
Later  in  a  wireless  which  the  Foreign  Office  permitted 

( )   to  send  Senator  O'Gorman  of  New  York, 

( — . )   varied  his  lie  and  charged  that  I  had  sent 

the  information  direct  to  Great  Britain. 


HATE  229 

The  Continental  Times  was  distributed  in  the  prison 

camps  and  after  ( ) 's  article  I  said  to  von  Ja- 

gow,  "I  have  had  enough  of  this  nonsense  which  is  sup- 
ported by  the  Foreign  Office  and  if  articles  of  the  nature 

of    ( ! )'s   appear   again    I    shall   make   a   public 

statement  that  the  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany  are  sub- 
jected to  a  cruel  and  unusual  punishment  by  having  the 
lying  Continental  Times  placed  in  their  hands,  a  paper 
which  purports  to  be  published  for  Americans  but  which 
is  supported  by  the  Foreign  Office,  owned  by  an  Austrian 
and  edited  by  a   renegade  Englishman!" 

This  Continental  Times  business  again  caused  one  to 
wonder  at  the  German  psychology  which  seems  to  think 
that  the  best  way  to  make  friends  is  to  attack  them.  The 
author  of  '*The  Gentle  Art  of  Making  Enemies"  must 
have  attended  a  German  school. 

An  Ambassador  is  supposed  to  be  protected  but  not 
even  when  I  filed  affidavits  in  the  Foreign  Office,  in  19 16, 
made  by  the  ex-secretary  of  the  "League  of  Truth"  and 
by  a  man  who  was  constantly  with  Marten  and  the  den- 
tist, that  Marten  had  threatened  to  shoot  me,  did  the 
Foreign  Office  dare  or  wish  to  do  anything  against  this 
ridiculous  League.  These  affidavits  were  corroborated 
by  a  respectable  restaurant  keeper  in  Berlin  and  his  as- 
sistants who  testified  that  Marten  with  several  ferocious 
looking  German  officers  had  come  to  his  restaurant  "look- 
ing" for  me.  I  never  took  any  precaution  against  these 
lunatics  whom  I  knew  to  be  a  bunch  of  cowardly  swindlers. 

Marten  and  his  friends  were  also  engaged  in  a  propa- 
ganda against  the  Jews. 

The  activities  of  Marten  were  caused  by  the  fact  that 
he  made  money  out  of  his  propaganda;  as  numerous  fool 
Germans  and  traitorous  Americans  contributed  to  his 
war  chest,  and  by  the  fact  that  his  work  was  so  favourably 
received  by  the  military  that  this  husky  coward  was  ex- 
cused  from   all   military   service. 


230        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

It  seemed,  too,  as  if  the  Government  was  anxious  to 
cultivate  the  hate  against  America.  Long  before  Amer- 
ican ammunition  was  delivered  in  any  quantity  to  Eng- 
land and  long  before  any  at  all  was  delivered  to  France, 
not  only  did  the  Government  influence  newspapers  and 
official  gazettes,  but  the  official  Communiques  alleged  that 
quantities  of  American  ammunition  were  being  used  on 
the  West  front. 

The  Government  seemed  to  think  that  if  it  could  stir 
up  enough  hate  against  America  in  Germany  on  this  am- 
munition question  the  Americans  would  become  terrorised 
and  stop  the  shipment. 

The  Government  allowed  medals  to  be  struck  in  hon- 
our of  each  little  general  who  conquered  a  town — "von 
Emmich,  conqueror  of  Liege,"  etc.,  a  pernicious  practice 
as  each  general  and  princeling  wanted  to  continue  the 
war  until  he  could  get  his  face  on  a  medal — even  if  no 
one  bought  it.  But  the  climax  was  reached  when  medals 
celebrating  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  were  sold  through- 
out Germany.  Even  if  the  sinking  of  the  Lusitania  had 
been  justified  only  one  who  has  lived  in  Germany  since 
the  war  can  understand  the  disgustingly  bad  taste  which 
can  gloat  over  the  death  of  women  and  babies. 

I  can  recall  now  but  two  writers  in  all  Germany  who 
dared  to  say  a  good  word  for  America.  One  of  these, 
Regierungsrat  Paul  Krause,  son-in-law  of  Field  Marshal 
Von  der  Goltz,  wrote  an  article  in  January,  19 17,  in  the 
Lokal  Anzeiger  pointing  out  the  American  side  of  the 
question  of  this  munition  shipment;  and  that  bold  and 
fearless  speaker  and  writer,  Maximilian  Harden,  dared  to 
make  a  defence  of  the  American  standpoint.  The  prin- 
cipal article  in  one  of  the  issues  of  his  paper.  Die  Zukunft, 
was  headed  "If  I  were  Wilson."  After  some  copies  had 
been  sold  the  issue  was  confiscated  by  the  police,  whether 
at  the  instance  of  the  military  or  at  the  instance  of  the 
Chancellor,  I  do  not  know.     Every  one  had  the  impres- 


HATE  231 

slon  in  Berlin  that  this  confiscation  was  by  ordtr  of 
General  von  Kessel,  the  War  Governor  of  the  Mark  of 
Brandenburg. 

I  met  Harden  before  the  war  and  occasionally  con- 
versed with  him  thereafter.  Once  in  a  while  he  gave  a 
lecture  in  the  great  hall  of  the  Philharmonic,  always  fill- 
ing the  hall  to  overflowing.  In  his  lectures,  which,  of 
course,  were  carefully  passed  on  by  the  police,  he  said 
nothing  startling.  His  newspaper  is  a  weekly  publica- 
tion; a  little  book  about  seven  inches  by  four  and  a  half, 
but  wielding  an  influence  not  at  all  commensurate  with 
its  size. 

The  liberal  papers,  like  the  largest  paper  of  Berlin, 
the  Tayeblatt,  edited  by  Theodor  Wolff,  while  not  vio- 
lently against  America,  were  not  favourable.  But  the 
articles  in  the  Conservative  papers  and  even  some  of  the 
organs  of  the  Catholic  Party  invariably  breathed  hatred 
against  everything  American. 

In  the  Reichstag,  America  and  President  Wilson  were 
often  attacked  and  never  defended.  On  May  thirtieth, 
1916,  in  the  course  of  a  debate  on  the  censorship,  Strase- 
mann,  of  the  National  Liberal  Party  and  of  the  branch  of 
that  party  with  Conservative  leanings,  violently  opposed 
President  Wilson  and  said  that  he  was  not  wanted  as 
a  peacemaker. 

Government,  newspapers  and  politicians  all  united  in 
opposing  America. 

I  believe  that  to-day  all  the  bitterness  of  the  hate  for- 
merly concentrated  on  Great  Britain  has  now  been  con- 
centrated on  the  United  States.  The  German-Americans 
are  hated  worse  than  the  native  Americans.  They  have 
deeply  disappointed  the  Germans:  first,  because  although 
German-Americans  contributed  enormously  towards  Ger- 
man war  charities  the  fact  of  this  contribution  was  not 
known  to  the  recipients  in  Germany.  Money  sent  to  the 
German  Red  Cross  from  America  was  acknowledged  by 


232        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

the  Red  Cross;  but  no  publicity  was  given  in  Germany 
to  the  fact  that  any  of  the  money  given  was  from  Ger- 
man-Americans. Secondly,  the  German-Americans  did 
not  go,  as  they  might  have  done,  to  Germany,  through 
neutral  countries,  with  American  passports,  and  enter  the 
German  army;  and,  thirdly,  the  most  bitter  disappoint- 
ment of  all,  the  German-Americans  have  not  yet  risked 
their  property  and  their  necks,  their  children's  future  and 
their  own  tranquillity,  by  taking  arms  against  the  govern- 
ment of  America  in  the  interest  of  the  Hohenzollerns. 

For  years,  a  clever  propaganda  had  been  carried  on  in 
America  to  make  all  Germans  there  feel  that  they  were 
Germans  of  one  united  nation,  to  make  those  who  had 
come  from  Hesse  and  Bavaria,  or  Saxony  and  Wiirt- 
temberg,  forget  that  as  late  as  1866  these  countries  had 
been  overrun  and  conquered  by  Prussian  militarism. 

When  Prince  Henry,  the  Kaiser's  brother,  visited 
America,  he  spent  most  of  his  time  with  German-Amer- 
icans and  German-American  societies  in  order  to  assist 
this  propaganda. 

Even  in  peace  time,  the  German-American  who  returns 
to  the  village  in  which  he  lived  as  a  boy  and  who  walks 
down  the  village  street  exploiting  himself  and  his  prop- 
erty, does  not  help  good  relations  between  the  two  coun- 
tries. Envy  is  the  mother  of  hate  and  the  envied  and 
returned  German-American  receives  only  a  lip  welcome 
in  the  village  of  his  ancestors. 

Caricatures  of  Uncle  Sam  and  of  President  Wilson 
were  published  in  all  German  papers.  A  caricature  rep- 
resenting our  President  releasing  the  dove  of  peace  with 
one  hand  while  he  poured  out  munitions  for  the  Allies 
with  the  other  was  the  least  unpleasant. 

As  I  have  said,  from  the  tenth  of  August,  19 14,  to  the 
twenty-fifth  of  September,  191 5,  the  Emperor  continually 
refused  to  receive  me  on  the  ground  that  he  would  not 
receive  the  Ambassador  of   a   country  which   furnished 


O      R 


I      G      H      T 


'Wilson  and  his  Press 

is  not  America" 


An    American    D  e  m  o  n  s  i  r  a  t  i  o  ii . 

On  !hc  27  Ih  trf  Joniiarv,  l^c  birthday  ot  the  German 
Emperor,  an  immense  louTcl-wrcalh  decorated  with  llie 
OcrrMn  ond  Ameticnn  noQi  was  placed  by  American*  ot 
the  foot  ot  the  monument  to  fredenck  Ihc  Great  The 
American  ling  wa5  cn»hroudcd  in  bIftcU  crape.  Fredericit 
ttw  Grcot  was  the  firjl  to  rccocnize  the  Independence 
o(  ttie  younQ  Republic,  after  tt  hod  won  its  Irccdom  hom 
tt»c  >x>ke  of  l:ngl<ind,  at  the  price  of  ih  vci\  heart's  bluod 
through  \cars  of  struggle.  His  successor,  Wilhcim  11^ 
receives  the  grahtude  ot  America  in  ttic  form  of  hypocritical 
phrases  ond  war  supplies  to  his  mortal  enemy. 


N       D 


R       U 


„QDilfon  und  feine  PreiJe 

it^  nid)t  amerifa" 

€  \nt    amcrlfonlfdjc    Kund^ebunii 

flm  37.  Jiinuor,  dcm  iSrbncculogc  dfo  .teulfdjdi  Haif- 
rn  nmcnruncr  cm  Dcnfmolc  j^cicJnd)  den  (BtoB'n  <  n<  < 
rlm.Cotbcfcfroii)  mit  cincr  Jtul(dj<ii  iinJ  tinet  oliitrifonii*" 
Sine  nitJtt  Ccl\lc[c  irur  in  Irouttflor  jtljGllt.  '^rifdiid)  Jtt 
^hc  niif  cincr  Jcr  Crflcn,  drr  Jlc  mlt  ^crjblut  crFiSnipftc 
obhdnawfdt    dec    tungcn    '?!cpublif    pom   Jo4)e    Cnslond* 

erf  annlc.        Sen      t>ant      nmccitus      cmpfinjt 
In    ?tiid)Coram<,    'ai .  I  b  c  I  m    li.,    in    7  o  t  m    Don 

ruchUtifAcn      Pbtofen      nod     ID  o  f  f  (  n  I  i  c  [  c  • 

inacn    o-     J>n     T,.  Jfoind. 


THIS  PAGE  FROM  THE  SCURRILOUS  PUBLICATION  OF   MARTEN  AXP  HIS 
COLLEAGUES    SHOWS   THE    PHOTOGRAPH    OF   THE   WRF.ATH    AND 
THE  CRAPE-DRAPED  AMERICAN  FLAG 


^P* 


the  medal  to  commemorate  the  sixkinc,  of  the  i.usitania 
on  may  seventh,  igi5.  .  note  that  it  is  dated  may  fifth 
(page  230) 


HATE  233 

munitions  to  the  enemies  of  Germany;  and  we  were  thor- 
oughly black-listed  by  all  the  German  royalties.  I  did 
not  see  one,  however  humble,  after  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  with  the  exception  of  Prince  Max  of  Baden,  who 
had  to  do  with  prisoners  of  war  in  Germany  and  in  other 
countries.  On  one  occasion  I  sent  one  of  my  secretaries  to 
the  palace  of  Princess  August  Wilhelm,  wife  of  one  of 
the  Kaiser's  sons,  with  a  contribution  of  money  for  her 
hospital,  she  having  announced  that  she  would  personally 
receive  contributions  on  that  day.  She  took  the  money 
from  the  secretary  and  spoke  bitterly  against  America  on 
account  of  the  shipment  of  arms. 

Even  some  boxes  of  cigarettes  we  sent  another  royalty 
at  the  front  at  Christmas  time,  1914,  were  not  acknowl- 
edged. 

Dr.  Jacobs,  who  was  the  correspondent  in  Berlin  of 
Musical  America,  and  who  remained  there  until  about 
the  twenty-sixth  of  April,  19 17,  was  called  on  about  the 
sixteenth  of  April,  19 17,  to  the  Kommandantur  and  sub- 
jected to  a  cross-examination.  During  this  cross-examina- 
tion he  was  asked  if  he  knew  about  the  "League  of 
Truth,"  and  why  he  did  not  join  that  organisation. 
Whether  it  was  a  result  of  his  non-joining  or  not,  I  do 
not  know,  but  during  the  remainder  of  his  stay  In  Berlin 
he  was  compelled  to  report  twice  a  day  to  the  police  and 
was  not  allowed  to  leave  his  house  after  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  The  question,  however,  put  to  him  shows 
the  direct  interest  that  the  German  authorities  took  In  the 
existence  of  this  malodorous  organisation. 

It  appears  in  some  of  the  circulars  issued  by  the  League 
of  Truth  that  I  was  accused  of  giving  American  passports 
to  Englishmen  in  order  to  enable  them  to  leave  the  coun- 

try. 

After  I  left  Germany  there  was  an  interpellation  in  the 
Reichstag  about  this,  and  ZImmermann  was  asked  about 


234        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

the  charge  which  he  said  he  had  investigated  and  found 
untrue. 

In  another  chapter  I  have  spoken  of  the  subject  of  the 
selling  of  arms  and  supplies  by  America  to  the  Allies. 
No  German  ever  forgets  this.  The  question  of  legality 
or  treaties  never  enters  his  mind:  he  only  knows  that 
American  supplies  and  munitions  killed  his  brother,  son 
or  father.     It  is  a  hate  we  must  meet  for  long  years. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  (Continued) 

A  FEW  days  after  the  events  narrated  in  Chapter  XII, 
von  Jagow  called  to  see  me  at  the  Embassy  and  in- 
\ited  me  to  visit  the  Emperor  at  the  Great  General  Head- 
quarters; but  he  did  not  state  why  I  was  asked,  and  I  do 
not  know  to  this  day  whether  the  Chancellor  and  those 
surrounding  the  Emperor  had  determined  on  a  temporary 
settlement  of  the  submarine  question  with  the  United 
States  and  wished  to  put  that  settlement  out,  as  it  were, 
under  the  protection  of  the  I'^mperor,  or  whether  the  Em- 
peror was  undecided  and  those  in  favour  of  peace  wished 
me  to  present  to  him  the  American  side  of  the  question. 
1  incline  to  the  latter  view.  Von  Jagow  informed  me  that 
an  officer  from  the  Foreign  Office  would  accompany  me 
and  that  I  should  be  allowed  to  take  a  secretary  and  the 
huntsman  [Leibjaeger) ,  without  whom  no  Ambassador 
ever  travels  in  Germany. 

Mr.  Grew,  our  counsellor,  was  very  anxious  to  go  and  I 
felt  on  account  of  his  excellent  work,  as  well  as  his  senior- 
ity, that  he  was  entitled  to  be  chosen.  Lieutenant  von 
Prittwitz,  who  was  attached  to  the  Foreign  Office  as  a 
sort  of  special  aide  to  von  Jagow,  was  detailed  to  accom- 
pany us.  We  were  given  a  special  salon  car  and  left  on 
the  evening  of  PViday,  April  twenty-eighth.  As  we  nearcd 
the  front  by  way  of  the  line  running  through  Saar 
Brucken,  our  train  was  often  halted  because  of  long  trains 
of  hospital  cars  on  their  way  from  the  front  to  the  base 
hospitals  in  the  rear;  and  as  we  entered  France  there  were 
many  evidences  of  the  obstinate  fights  which  had  raged 


236        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

in  this  part  of  the  country  in  August,  1914-  Parts  of  the 
towns  and  villages  which  we  passed  were  in  ruins,  and 
rough  trench  lines  were  to  be  discerned  on  some  of  the 
hillsides.  At  the  stations,  weeping  French  women  dressed 
in  black  were  not  uncommon  sights,  having  just  heard 
perhaps  of  the  death,  months  before,  of  a  husband,  sweet- 
heart or  son  who  had  been  mobihsed  with  the  French 
army. 

The  fortress  city  of  Metz  through  which  we  passed 
seemed  to  be  as  animated  as  a  beehive.  Trains  were  con- 
tinuously passing.  Artillery  was  to  be  seen  on  the  roads 
and  automobiles  were  hurrying  to  and  fro. 

The  Great  General  Headquarters  of  the  Kaiser  for 
the  Western  Front  is  in  the  town  of  Charleville-Mezieres, 
situated  on  the  Meuse  in  the  Department  of  the  Ardennes, 
which  Department  at  that  time  was  the  only  French  De- 
partment wholly  in  the  possession  of  the  Germans.  We 
were  received  at  the  railway  station  by  several  officers  and 
escorted  in  one  of  the  Kaiser's  automobiles,  which  had 
been  set  apart  for  my  use,  to  a  villa  in  the  town  of  Charle- 
ville,  owned  by  a  F  rench  manufacturer  named  Perin.  This 
pretty  little  red  brick  villa  had  been  christened  by  the 
Germans,  "Sachsen  Villa,"  because  it  had  been  occupied 
by  the  King  of  Saxony  when  he  had  visited  the  Kaiser.  A 
French  family  servant  and  an  old  gardener  had  been  left 
in  the  villa,  but  for  the  few  meals  which  we  took  there  two 
of  the  Emperor's  body  huntsmen  had  been  assigned,  and 
they  brought  with  them  some  of  the  Emperor's  silver 
and  china. 

The  Emperor  had  been  occupying  a  large  villa  in  the 
town  of  Charleville  until  a  few  days  before  our  arrival. 
After  the  engineer  of  his  private  train  had  been  killed 
in  the  railway  station  by  a  bomb  dropped  from  a  French 
aeroplane,  and  after  another  bomb  had  dropped  within 
a  hundred  yards  of  the  villa  occupied  by  the  Kaiser,  he 
moved  to  a  red  brick  chateau  situated  on  a  hill  outside 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  237 

of  Charlevllle,  known  as  either  the  Chateau  Bellevue  or 
Bellalre. 

Nearly  every  day  during  our  stay,  we  lunched  and  dined 
with  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  in  the  villa  of  a  French 
banker,  which  he  occupied.  About  ten  people  were  pres- 
ent at  these  dinners,  the  Chancellor's  son-in-law,  Zech, 
Prittwitz,  two  experts  in  international  law,  both  attached 
to  the  Foreign  Office,  and,  at  two  dinners,  von  Treutler, 
the  Prussian  Minister  to  Bavaria,  who  had  been  assigned 
to  represent  the  Foreign  Office  near  the  person  of  the 
Kaiser  and  Helfferich  who,  towards  the  end  of  our  stay, 
had  been  summoned  from  Berlin. 

I  had  been  working  hard  at  German  and  as  von  Beth- 
mann-MoUweg  does  not  like  to  talk  English  and  as  some 
of  these  persons  did  not  speak  that  language  we  tried 
to  carry  on  the  table  conversation  in  German,  but  I  know 
that  when  I  tried  to  explain,  in  German,  to  Helfferich  the 
various  tax  systems  of  America,  I  swam  out  far  beyond 
my  linguistic  depth. 

During  our  stay  here  I  received  cables  from  the  De- 
partment of  State  which  were  transmitted  from  Berlin  in 
cipher,  and  which  Grew  was  able  to  decipher  as  he  had 
brought  a  code  book  with  him.  In  one  of  these  it  was 
expressly  intimated  that  in  any  settlement  of  the  sub- 
marine controversy  America  would  make  no  distinction 
between  armed  and  unarmed  merchant  ships. 

We  formed  for  a  while  quite  a  happy  family.  The 
French  owners  of  the  villa  seemed  to  have  had  a  fond- 
ness for  mechanical  toys.  yXfter  dinner  every  night  these 
toys  were  set  going,  much  to  the  amusement  of  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg. One  of  these  toys,  about  two  feet  high, 
was  a  Hoochi-Koochi  dancer  and  another  successful  one 
was  a  clown  and  a  trained  pig,  both  climbing  a  step  ladder 
and  performing  marvellous  feats  thereon.  Grew,  who  is 
an  excellent  musician,  played  the  piano  for  the  Chancellor 
and   at  his   special   request   played   pieces   by   Bach,  the 


238        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

favourite  composer  of  von  Bethmann-Hollweg's  deceased 
wife.  One  day  we  had  tea  in  the  garden  of  the  villa  for- 
merly occupied  by  the  Emperor,  with  the  Prince  of  Pless 
(who  is  always  with  the  Kaiser,  and  who  seemed  to  be 
a  prime  favourite  with  him),  von  Treutler  and  others, 
and  motored  with  Prince  Pless  to  see  some  marvellous 
Himalayan  pheasants  reared  by  an  old  Frenchman,  an 
ex-jailer,  who  seemed  to  have  a  strong  instinct  to  keep 
something  in  captivity. 

The  Kaiser's  automobile,  which  he  b^d  placed  at  my 
disposal,  had  two  loaded  rifles  standing  upright  in  racks 
at  the  right  and  left  sides  of  the  car,  ready  for  instant  use. 
On  one  day  we  motored,  always,  of  course,  in  charge  of 
the  officers  detailed  to  take  care  of  us,  to  the  ancient  walled 
city  of  Rocroy  and  through  the  beautiful  part  of  the  Ar- 
dennes forest  lying  to  the  east  of  It,  returning  to  Charle- 
vlUe  along  the  heights  above  the  valley  of  the  Meuse. 

The  feeding  of  the  French  population,  which  is  carried 
on  by  the  American  Relief  Commission,  was  a  very  In- 
teresting thing  to  see  and,  in  company  with  one  of  the 
m.embers  of  the  French  committee,  we  saw  the  workings 
of  this  system  of  American  Relief.  We  first  visited  a 
storehouse  in  Charleville,  the  headquarters  for  the  relief 
district  of  which  Charleville  may  be  called  the  capital. 

For  relief  purposes  Northern  France  is  divided  into 
six  districts.  From  the  central  distribution  point  in  each 
district,  food  Is  sent  to  the  commune  within  the  district, 
the  commune  being  the  ultimate  unit  of  distribution  and 
each  commune  containing  on  the  average  about  five  hun- 
dred souls.  Wc  then  motored  to  one  of  the  communes 
where  the  distribution  of  food  for  the  week  was  to  take 
place  that  afternoon.  Here  In  a  factory,  closed  since 
the  war,  the  people  of  the  commune  were  lined  up  with 
their  baskets  waiting  for  their  share  of  the  rations.  On 
entering  a  large  room  of  the  factory,  each  stopped  first 
at  a  desk  and  there  either  paid  in  cash  for  the  week's  al- 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  239 

lowance  of  rations  or  signed  an  agreement  to  pay  at  some- 
future  date.  The  individuals  who  had  no  prospect  of 
being  able  to  pay  received  the  rations  for  nothing.  About 
one-third  were  in  each  class.  The  money  used  was  not 
always  French,  or  real  money,  but  was,  as  a  rule,  the 
paper  money  issued  in  that  part  of  Northern  France  by 
each  town  and  redeemable  after  the  war. 

Signs  were  hung  up  showing  the  quantity  that  each 
person  was  entitled  to  receive  for  the  next  fifteen  days 
and  the  sale  price  per  kilo  to  each  irthabitant.  For  in- 
stance, in  this  particular  period  for  the  first  fifteen  days  of 
the  month  of  May,  19 16,  each  inhabitant  could,  in  this 
district,  receive  the  following  allowances  at  the  following 
rates : 

ARTICLE  AMOUNT    PER    HEAD  PRICE 

Flour  4  K.  500     The  Kilogram     o  fr.  48 

Rice  K.  500  o  fr.  55 

Beans  K.  500  o  fr.  90 

Bacon  K.  500  2  fr,  80 

Lard  K.  250  2  fr.  30 

Green  CofFec  K.  250  i  fr.  70 

Crystallized  Sugar  K.  150  o  fr.  90 

Salt  K.  200  o  fr.   10 

Soap   (hard)  K.  250  i  fr.  00 

In  addition  to  these  articles  each  inhabitant  of  the 
commune  which  we  visited,  also  received  on  the  day  of  our 
visit  a  small  quantity  of  carrot  seed  to  plant  in  the  small 
plot  of  ground  which  each  was  pei^mitted  to  retain  out 
of  his  own  land  by  the  German  authorities. 

The  unfortunate  people  who  received  this  allowance 
looked  very  poor  and  very  hungry  and  very  miserable. 
Many  of  them  spoke  to  me,  not  only  here  but  also  in 
Charleville,  and  expressed  their  great  gratitude  to  the 
American  people  for  what  was  being  done  for  them. 
Those  in  Charleville  said  that  they  had  heard  that  I  was 
in  their  town  because  of  trouble  pending  between  America 


240        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  Germany.  They  said  they  hoped  that  there  would  be 
no  war  between  the  two  countries  because  if  war  came  they 
did  not  know  what  would  become  of  them  and  that,  in 
the  confusion  of  war,  they  would  surely  be  left  to  starve. 

In  Charleville  notices  were  posted  directing  the  in- 
habitants not  to  go  out  on  the  streets  after,  I  think,  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  also  notices  informing  the  pop- 
ulation that  they  would  be  allowed  a  small  quantity  of 
their  own  land  for  the  purpose  of  growing  potatoes. 

After  visiting  the  factory  building  where  the  distribu- 
tion of  rations  was  taking  place,  we  motored  to  Sedan, 
stopping  on  the  way  at  the  hamlet  of  Bazeilles,  and  visit- 
ing the  cottage  where  Bismarck  and  Emperor  Napoleon 
the  Third  had  their  historic  interview  after  the  battle  of 
Sedan. 

The  old  lady  who  owns  this  house  received  us  and 
showed  us  bullet  marks  made  on  her  house  in  the  war  of 
1870,  as  well  as  in  the  present  war.  She  apologised  be- 
cause she  had  had  the  window-pane,  broken  by  a  rifle 
sRot  in  this  war,  replaced  on  account  of  the  cold.  As  a 
girl,  she  had  received  Bismarck  and  Napoleon  and  had 
shown  them  to  the  room  upstairs  where  they  had  held 
their  consultation.  I  asked  her  which  chair  In  this  room 
Bismarck  had  sat  in,  and  sat  in  it  myself,  for  luck.  I 
also  contributed  to  the  collection  of  gold  pieces  given 
to  her  by  those  who  had  visited  her  cottage. 

In  Sedan  we  visited  an  old  mill  where  stores  of  the 
relief  commission  were  kept,  and  in  the  mayor's  office 
were  present  at  a  sort  of  consultation  between  the  Prus- 
sian officers  and  members  of  the  French  Committee  of 
Sedan  in  which  certain  details  relative  to  the  feeding  of 
the  population  were  discussed. 

The  relief  work  is  not,  of  course,  carried  on  right  up 
to  the  battle  line  but  we  visited  a  small  village  not  many 
kilometres  in  the  rear  of  the  German  line.  In  this  vil- 
lage we  were,  as  before,  shown  the  stores  kept  for  dis- 


i 

" 1 

! 

i 

""^  ^  """"^ 

1 

J 

AMBASSADOR   GERARD   AND    HIS    I'ARTV    IN    SEDAN 


WITH   GERMAN   OFFICERS   AND    MEMBERS   OF   THE  FRENCH   FOOD   COMMISSION 

r-EFORE  THE  COTTAGE  AT  BA2EILLES,  WHERE  NAPOLEON  III  AND  BISMARCK 
MET  AFTER  THE  BATTLE  OF  SEDAN 


COMITE  D'ALIMENT&TION  PU  nVrP  PE  LA  FRANCe 


'gjj  DISTRICT  DE  CHARLEVILLE 

■y^JBt  -ComUe  du  ^iitrict  infcrme  les  fiahiianii  qu'il  met  a  Jcur  riispcsitwn  pour  to 

f^-^^  '      PREMIJgRB  quinzaine  du  mok  dt  NiTKX  1916 

l''i  hiquaniitii  de  marcJtandifes  iuiPantes  dans  le  tableau  d-desioui  et  aux  priz  fixh  ; 


8 


HARCBANDIBBS 


1.  7uioe 

Prix  maxunum  da  pain. 

2.  Bia 

3.  Haricota,  .  .   .  ,  . 

4.  Lard 

8.  Saindoox 

6.  C»t6  Tert 

7.  Sucre  cristallls^.   .    . 

8.  8el . 

9.  SaTon  isa .  .  .  .  . 


4  k.  500 

Ok,  500 
Ok.600 
OlcfiOO 
0  k.  250 
Ok.  250 
Ok.  150 
0  k.  200 
Ok.  250 


le  kilog  0  Ir.  48 

-.1  0  fr.  40 

~  Ofr.BS 

— .  O  fr.  90 

—  '  2fr.  80 

—  2  fr.  30 

—  t  fr.  70 
_.  0  fr.  90 
— .  O  fr.  10 

—  Ifr. 


Uo  borl'iui)    1       luHf-ill 


Ea  prioripf  le  rsTjUillfnieDl  doit  Mn;  Avtinlnti  &  (ou9  Ics  babitaoU. 

I*  Au  compunt  A  cfUJ  qui  peu**flt  paycri 

!•  A   tilre   rnnbourKsblr   pour   If*   pcrfiODripfl   luomeolaQ^meol  pnv^cs  dc 
renibour»^m«Dt  k  la  communf  opr^a  la  fitzcrf\ 

3-  Graluilfmeo.  aui  indijenls. 

Lr  prii  moyfo  de  la  vie  ea(  fix*  A  t  franc  par  jtt 
ehiffre  poof  base  et  peul  ctre  consults  k  la  Maine. 

Toule  peraoDoe  qui.  le  pouvant,  se  refiia«rait  an   piipmeDI  ou  &  la  sicnalure    h    I  ri'i^fl 
pnT^e  de  raviLaillemeol,  aauf  le  pain,  juaqa'i  t*  quVU,-  ait  pay*  ou  ai^oi* 

Lea  habiunU  aool  librea  de  oe  pa>  prendie  Vmies  !■  s  .lenrfea  miset  A  leiir  dispouli  m 
la  coRiiniinr,  qui  peut  aioai  aoit  conalitoer  inir  f/urv.  snil  fairc  des  dii>tribult<)nH   H^pplcin 
lea  dittribuliooH  ordioatrea. 

Lea  habiUnU  ne  doivent  paa  prendre  lea  Jenrte.,  jI^iiI  iI«  u'ont  paa  besom    II  I.  or  >~t 


blgDaliire  ^0  engageioeonjrt 

u  a  Hi  iubU  CD  preoafii  •• 

^r      ni,  peul  £tre  tpomeoiaa^melM 

Ij     [irn  non  distributes  resteDl  k 
t   1 1  n  s  dana  la  merae  forme  qua 

f     i7>  lirmerit    ioterdit  de    faira  dmt 


L.  r»ix>i_x>'r 


It  Ju  Dutrtct. 


Oatto    alllcbko    do 


»Ppoa«ia   a-o-duot    "v    d.nti-UiuUoi 


A  POSTER   FROM    THE  CHARLEVILLE   DISTRICT,    SHOWING 
THE  ALLOTMENT  OF  FOOD  TO  EACH   PERSON   FOR  THE 
FIRST  FIFTEEN  DAYS  OF  MAY,  I916 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  241 

tribution  by  the  relief  commission.  As  there  were  many 
soldiers  in  this  village  I  said  I  thought  that  these  soldiers 
must  have  stores  of  their  own  but,  in  order  to  be  sure  that 
they  were  not  living  on  the  supplies  of  the  relief  commis- 
sion, I  thought  it  only  fair  that  I  should  see  where  the 
soldiers'  stores  were  kept.  I  was  taken  across  the  railroad 
track  to  where  their  stores  were  kept  and,  judging  from 
the  labels  on  the  barrels  and  boxes,  I  should  say  that  a 
great  many  of  these  stores  had  come  from  Holland. 

During  this  trip  about  the  country,  I  saw  a  number  of 
women  and  girls  working,  or  attempting  to  work,  in  the 
fields.  Their  appearance  was  so  different  from  that  of  the 
usual  peasant  that  I  spoke  to  the  accompanying  officers 
about  it.  I  was  told,  however,  that  these  were  the  peas- 
ants of  the  locality  who  dressed  unusually  well  in  that 
part  of  France.  Later  on  in  Charleville,  at  the  lodging  of 
an  officer  and  with  Count  Wengersky,  who  was  detailed 
to  act  as  sort  of  interpreter  and  guide  to  the  American 
Relief  Commission  workers,  I  met  the  members  of  the 
American  Relief  Commission  who  were  working  in 
Northern  France  and  who  had  been  brought  on  a  special 
train  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  me  to  Charleville.  This 
Count  Wengersky  spoke  English  well.  Having  been  for 
a  number  of  years  agent  of  the  Hamburg  American  Line 
in  London,  he  was  used  to  dealing  with  Americans  and 
was  possessed  of  more  tact  than  usually  falls  to  the  lot 
of  the  average  Prussian  officer.  We  had  tea  and  cakes 
in  these  lodgings,  and  then  some  of  the  Americans  drew 
me  aside  and  told  me  the  secret  of  the  peculiar  looking 
peasants  whom  I  had  seen  at  work  in  the  fields  surround- 
ing Charleville. 

It  seems  that  the  Germans  had  endeavoured  to  get 
volunteers  from  the  great  industrial  towns  of  Lille,  Rou- 
beix  and  Tourcoing  to  work  these  fields;  that  after  the 
posting  of  the  notices  calling  for  volwnteers  only  fourteen 
had  appeared.     The  Germans  then  gave  orders  to  seize 


242        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

a  certain  number  of  inhabitants  and  send  them  out  to 
farms  in  the  outlying  districts  to  engage  in  agricultural 
work.  The  Americans  told  me  that  this  order  was  car- 
ried out  with  the  greatest  barbarity;  that  a  man  would 
come  home  at  night  and  find  that  his  wife  or  children  had 
disappeared  and  no  one  could  tell  him  where  they  had 
gone  except  that  the  neighbours  would  relate  that  the 
German  non-commissioned  officers  and  a  file  of  soldiers 
had  carried  them  off.  For  instance,  in  a  house  of  a  well- 
to-do  merchant  who  had  perhaps  two  daughters  of  fifteen 
and  seventeen,  and  a  man  servant,  the  two  daughters  and 
the  servant  would  be  seized  and  sent  off  together  to  work 
for  the  Germans  in  some  little  farm  house  whose  location 
was  not  disclosed  to  the  parents.  The  Americans  told 
me  that  this  sort  of  thing  was  causing  such  indignation 
among  the  population  of  these  towns  that  they  feared  a 
great  uprising  and  a  consequent  slaughter  and  burning 
by  the  Germans. 

That  night  at  dinner  I  spoke  to  von  Bethmann-Hollweg 
about  this  and  told  him  that  it  seemed  to  me  absolutely 
outrageous;  and  that,  without  consulting  with  my  govern- 
ment, I  was  prepared  to  protest  in  the  name  of  humanity 
against  a  continuance  of  this  treatment  of  the  civil  popu- 
lation of  occupied  France.  The  Chancellor  told  me  that 
he  had  not  known  of  it,  that  it  was  the  result  of  orders 
given  by  the  military,  that  he  would  speak  to  the  Em- 
peror about  it  and  that  he  hoped  to  be  able  to  stop  further 
deportations.  I  believe  that  they  were  stopped,  but  twenty 
thousand  or  more  who  had  been  taken  from  their  homes 
were  not  returned  until  months  afterwards.  I  said  in  a 
speech  which  I  made  in  May  on  my  return  to  America 
that  it  required  the  joint  efforts  of  the  Pope,  the  King  of 
Spain  and  our  President  to  cause  the  return  of  these  peo- 
ple to  their  homes;  and  I  then  saw  that  some  German 
press  agency  had  come  out  with  an  article  that  I  had  made 
false  statements  about  this  matter  because  these  people 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  243 

were  not  returned  to  their  homes  as  a  result  of  the  rep- 
resentations of  the  Pope,  the  King  of  Spain  and  our 
President,  but  were  sent  back  because  the  Germans  had 
no  further  use  for  them.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  denial 
makes  the  case  rather  worse  than  before. 

At  the  Chancellor's  house  in  the  evenings  we  had  dis- 
cussions on  the  submarine  situation  and  I  had  several  long 
talks  with  von  Bethmann-Holhveg  alone  in  a  corner  of 
the  room  while  the  others  listened  to  music  or  set  the 
mechanical  toys  in  motion.  These  discussions,  without 
doubt,  were  reported  to  the  Emperor  either  by  the  Chan- 
cellor or  by  von  Ireutler  who  at  that  time  was  high  in 
favor  with  his  Majesty. 

I  remember  on  one  evening  I  was  asked  the  question 
as  to  what  America  could  do,  supposing  the  almost  im- 
possible, that  America  should  resent  the  recommencement 
of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  by  the  Germans  and  declare 
war.  I  said  that  nearly  all  of  the  great  inventions  used  in 
this  war  had  been  made  by  Americans;  that  the  very  sub- 
marine which  formed  the  basis  of  our  discussion  was  an 
American  invention,  and  so  were  the  barbed  wire  and  the 
aeroplane,  the  ironclad,  the  telephone  and  the  telegraph, 
so  necessary  to  trench  warfare;  that  even  that  method  of 
warfare  had  been  first  developed  on  something  of  the 
present  scale  in  our  Civil  War;  and  that  I  believed  that, 
if  forced  to  it,  American  genius  could  produce  some  inven- 
tion which  might  have  a  decisive  effect  in  this  war.  My 
German  auditors  seemed  inclined  to  believe  that  there 
was  something  in  my  contentions.  But  they  said,  ''While 
possibly  you  might  invent  something  in  America,  while 
possibly  you  will  furnish  money  and  supplies  to  the  Allies, 
you  have  no  men;  and  the  public  sentiment  of  your  country 
is  such  that  you  will  not  be  able  to  raise  an  army  large 
enough  to  make  any  impression."  I  said  that  possibly  if 
hostilities  once  broke  out  with  the  Germans,  the  Ger- 
mans might  force  us  by  the  commission  of  such  acts  as 


244        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

had  aroused  Great  Britain,  to  pass  a  law  for  universal 
military  service.  This  proposition  of  mine  was  branded 
by  the  Germans  as  absolutely  impossible;  and,  therefore, 
I  am  sure  that  the  adoption  by  the  United  States  of  uni- 
versal service  in  the  first  round  of  the  war  struck  a  very 
severe  blow  at  the  morale  of  Germany. 

Von  Bethmann-Hollweg  always  desired  to  make  any 
settlement  of  the  submarine  question  contingent  upon  our 
doing  something  against  Great  Britain;  but  I  again  and 
again  insisted  that  we  could  not  agree  to  do  anything 
against  some  other  power  as  a  condition  of  obtaining  a 
recognition  of  our  rights  from  the  German  Empire. 

During  my  stay  at  the  General  Headquarters,  General 
Falkenhayn,  although  he  was  there  at  the  time,  carefully 
avoided  me,  which  I  took  to  be  a  sign  that  he  was  in 
favour  of  war  with  America.  In  fact,  I  heard  afterwards 
that  he  had  insisted  on  giving  his  views  on  the  subject, 
but  that  a  very  high  authority  had  told  him  to  confine  him- 
self to  military  operations. 

After  we  had  been  a  day  or  so  at  Charleville,  the 
Vice-Chancellor,  Helfferich,  arrived.  I  have  always  be- 
lieved that  he  was  sent  for  to  add  his  weight  to  the  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  peace  and  to  point  out  that  it  was 
necessary  for  Germany  to  have  the  friendship  of  Amer- 
ica after  the  war,  so  as  to  have  markets  where  she  could 
place  her  goods.  And  I  am  convinced  that  at  this  time, 
at  any  rate,  the  influence  of  Helfferich  was  cast  in  the 
scale  in  favour  of  peace. 

Finally,  I  was  told  that  on  the  next  day,  which  was 
Monday,  May  ist,  I  was  to  lunch  with  the  Emperor. 
Grew  was  invited  to  accompany  me,  and  von  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  said  that  he  would  call  for  me  about  an  hour 
before  the  time  set  for  lunch  as  the  Emperor  desired  to 
have  a  talk  with  me  before  lunch.  In  the  afternoon  an 
extract  from  the  log  of  a  German  submarine  commander 
(vas  sent  to  me  in  which  the  submarine  commander  had 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  2,,^ 

stated  that  he  had  sighted  a  vessel  which  he  could  easily 
have  torpedoed,  but  as  the  vessel  was  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  from  land,  he  had  not  done  so  because  the 
crew  might  not  be  able  from  that  distance  to  reach  a 
harbour.  When  the  Chancellor  called  for  me  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  he  asked  me  if  I  had  read  this  extract 
from  the  submarine  officer's  log,  and  noted  how  he  had 
refrained  from  torpedoing  a  boat  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  land.  I  told  the  Chancellor  that  I  had  read 
the  extract,  but  that  I  had  also  read  in  the  newspaper  that 
very  morning  that  a  ship  had  been  torpedoed  in  stormy 
weather  at  exactly  the  same  distance  from  land  and  the 
crew  compelled  to  seek  safety  in  the  ship's  boats;  that, 
anyway,  "one  swallow  did  not  make  a  summer,"  and  that 
reports  were  continually  being  received  of  boats  being 
torpedoed  at  great  distances  from  land. 

We  then  got  in  the  motor  and  motored  to  the  chateau 
about  a  mile  off,  where  the  Kaiser  resided.  We  got  out 
of  the  motor  before  going  into  the  courtyard  of  the  cha- 
teau, and  immediately  I  was  taken  by  the  Chancellor  into 
a  garden  on  the  gently  sloping  hillside  below  the  chateau. 
Here  the  Emperor,  dressed  in  uniform,  was  walking. 

As  I  drew  near  the  Emperor,  he  said  immediately,  "Do 
you  come  like  the  great  pro-consul  bearing  peace  or  war 
in  either  hand?"  By  this  he  referred,  of  course,  to  the 
episode  in  which  Quintus  Fabius  Maximus,  chief  of  the 
Roman  envoys  sent  to  Hannibal  in  the  Second  Punic  War, 
doubled  his  toga  in  his  hand,  held  it  up  and  said:  "In  this 
fold  I  carry  peace  and  war:  choose  which  you  will  have." 
"Give  us  which  you  prefer,"  was  the  reply.  "Then  take 
war,"  answered  the  Roman,  letting  the  toga  fall.  "We 
accept  the  gift,"  cried  the  Carthaginian  Senator,  "and 
welcome." 

I  said,  "No,  your  Majesty,  only  hoping  that  the  dif- 
ferences between  two  friendly  nations  may  be  adjusted." 
The  Emperor  then  spoke  of  what  he  termed  the  uncou-- 


246        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

teous  tone  of  our  notes,  saying  that  we  charged  the  Ger- 
mans with  barbarism  in  warfare  and  that,  as  Emperor 
and  head  of  the  Church,  he  had  wished  to  carry  on  the 
war  in  a  knightly  manner.  He  referred  to  his  own  speech 
to  the  members  of  the  Reichstag  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war  and  said  that  the  nations  opposed  to  Germany 
had  used  unfair  methods  and  means,  that  the  French  espe- 
cially were  not  like  the  French  of  '70,  but  that  their  of- 
ficers, instead  of  being  nobles,  came  from  no  one  knew 
where.  He  then  referred  to  the  efforts  to  starve  out 
Germany  and  keep  out  milk  and  said  that  before  he  would 
allow  his  family  and  grandchildren  to  starve  he  would 
blow  up  Windsor  Castle  and  the  whole  Royal  family  of 
England.  We  then  had  a  long  discussion  in  detail  of  the 
whole  submarine  question,  in  the  course  of  which  the 
Emperor  said  that  the  submarine  had  come  to  stay,  that 
it  was  a  weapon  recognised  by  all  countries,  and  that  he 
had  seen  a  picture  of  a  proposed  giant  submarine  in  an 
American  paper,  the  Scientific  American.  He  stated  that, 
anyway,  there  was  no  longer  any  international  law.  To 
this  last  statement  the  Chancellor  agreed.  He  further 
said  that  a  person  on  an  enemy  merchant  ship  was  like  a 
man  travelling  on  a  cart  behind  the  battle  lines — he  had 
no  just  cause  of  complaint  if  injured.  He  asked  me  why 
we  had  done  nothing  to  Great  Britain  because  of  her  al- 
leged violations  of  international  law — why  we  had  not 
broken  the  British  blockade. 

In  addition  to  the  technical  arguments  based  on  Inter- 
national law,  I  answered  that  no  note  of  the  United  States 
had  made  any  general  charge  of  barbarism  against  Ger- 
many; that  we  complained  of  the  manner  of  the  use  of 
submarines  and  nothing  more;  that  we  could  never  prom- 
ise to  do  anything  to  Great  Britain  or  to  any  other  coun- 
try in  return  for  a  promise  from  Germany  or  any  third 
country  to  keep  the  rules  of  International  law  and  respect 
the  rights  and  lives  of  our  citizens;  that  we  were  only  de- 


DIPLOMATIC  NF:G0TIATI0NS  247 

manding  our  rights  under  the  recognised  rules  of  inter- 
national law  and  it  was  for  us  to  decide  which  rights  we 
would  enforce  first;  that,  as  I  had  already  told  the  Chan- 
cellor, if  two  men  entered  my  grounds  and  one  stepped 
on  my  flowerbeds  and  the  other  killed  my  sister,  I  should 
probably  first  pursue  the  murderer  of  my  sister;  that 
those  travelling  on  the  seas  in  enemy  merchant  ships  were 
in  a  different  position  from  those  travelling  in  a  cart  be- 
hind the  enemy's  battle  lines  on  land  because  the  land 
travellers  were  on  enemy's  territory,  while  those  on  the 
sea  were  on  territory  which,  beyond  the  three-mile  limit, 
was  free  and  in  no  sense  enemy's  territory.  We  also 
discussed  the  position  taken  by  the  German  Government 
in  one  of  the  Frye  Notes,  in  which  the  German  expert  had 
taken  the  position  that  a  cargo  of  food  destined  for  an 
armed  enemy  port  was  presumed  to  be  for  the  armies  of 
the  enemy,  and  therefore  contraband.  The  Emperor 
spoke  of  the  case  of  the  Dacia  with  some  bitterness,  but 
when  I  went  into  an  explanation  the  Chancellor  joined  in 
the  conversation  and  said  that  our  position  was  undoubt- 
edly correct.  I  said  that  it  was  not  our  business  to  break 
the  blockade — that  there  were  plenty  of  German  agents  in 
the  United  States  who  could  send  food  ships  and  test 
the  question;  that  one  ship  I  knew  of,  the  fnihelmina, 
laden  with  food,  had  been  seized  by  the  British,  who  then 
compromised  with  the  owners,  paying  them,  I  believed, 
a  large  sum  for  the  disputed  cargo.  And  in  taking  up 
the  doctrine  of  ultimate  destination  of  goods,  i.e.,  goods 
sent  to  a  neutral  country  but  really  destined  for  a  bellig- 
erent, I  said  I  thought  that  during  our  Civil  War  we 
had  taken  against  Great  Britain  exactly  the  same  stand 
which  Great  Britain  now  took;  and  I  said  I  thought  that 
one  of  the  decisions  of  our  Supreme  Court  was  based  on 
a  shipment  to  Matamoras,  Mexico,  but  which  the  Su- 
preme Court  had  decided  was  really  for  the  Confederacy. 
Discussing  the  submarine  question,  the  Emperor  and 


248        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Chancellor  spoke  of  the  warning  given  in  the  Lusitania 
case;  and  I  said:  "If  the  Chancellor  warns  me  not  to 
go  out  on  the  Wilhelmplatz,  where  I  have  a  perfect  right 
to  go,  the  fact  that  he  gave  the  warning  does  not  justify 
him  in  killing  me  if  I  disregarded  his  warning  and  go 
where  I  have  a  right  to  go."  The  conversation  then  be- 
came more  general  and  we  finally  left  the  garden  and 
went  Into  the  chateau,  where  the  Emperor's  aides  and 
guests  were  Impatiently  waiting  for  lunch. 

This  conversation  lasted  far  beyond  lunch  time.  Anx- 
ious heads  were  seen  appearing  from  the  windows  and 
terraces  of  the  chateau  to  which  we  finally  adjourned.  I 
sat  between  the  Emperor  and  Prince  Pless.  Conversa- 
tion was  general  for  the  most  of  the  time,  and  subjects 
such  as  the  suffragettes  and  the  peace  expedition  of  Henry 
Ford  were  amusingly  discussed. 

After  lunch,  I  again  had  a  long  talk  with  the  Emperor 
but  of  a  more  general  nature  than  the  conversation  in  the 
garden. 

That  night  about  eleven  o'clock,  after  again  dining 
with  the  Chancellor,  we  left  Charlevllle  In  the  same  spe- 
cial salon  car,  arriving  at  Berlin  about  four  P.  M.  the 
next  day,  where  at  the  station  were  a  crowd  of  German 
and  American  newspaper  correspondents,  all  anxious  to 
know  what  had  happened. 

At  this  last  dinner  at  the  Chancellor's  he  took  me  off 
in  a  corner  and  said,  "As  I  understand  it,  what  America 
wants  is  cruiser  warfare  on  the  part  of  the  submarines." 
And  I  said,  "Yes,  that  is  it  exactly.  They  may  exercise 
the  right  of  visit  and  search,  must  not  torpedo  or  sink 
vessels  without  warning,  and  must  not  sink  any  vessel  un- 
less the  passengers  and  crew  are  put  in  a  place  of  safety." 

On  the  morning  of  the  third  of  May,  I  heard  that  the 
German  note  had  been  drafted,  but  that  It  would  contain 
a  clause  to  the  effect  that  while  the  German  submarines 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  249 

would  not  go  beyond  cruiser  warfare,  this  rule,  neverthe- 
less, would  not  apply  to  armed  merchantmen. 

As  such  a  proposition  as  this  would,  of  course,  only 
bring  up  the  subject  again,  I  Immediately  ordered  my  au- 
tomobile and  called  on  the  Spanish  Ambassador,  stating 
to  him  what  I  had  heard  about  the  contents  of  the  note; 
that  this  would  mean,  without  doubt,  a  break  with  Amer- 
ica;  and  that,  as  I  had  been  instructed  to  hand  the  Em- 
bassy over  to  him,  I  had  come  to  tell  him  of  that  fact. 
I  gave  the  same  Information  to  other  colleagues,  of 
course  hoping  that  what  I  said  would  directly  or  indirectly 
reach  the  ears  of  the  German  Foreign  Office.  Whether 
It  did  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  the  Sussex  Note  when 
received  did  not  contain  any  exception  with  reference  to 
armed  merchantmen. 

With  the  receipt  of  the  Sussex  Note  and  the  Presi- 
dent's answer  thereto,  which  declined  assent  to  the  claim 
of  Germany  to  define  its  attitude  toward  our  rights  in 
accordance  with  what  we  might  do  in  regard  to  the  en- 
forcement of  our  rights  against  Great  Britain,  the  sub- 
marine question  seemed,  at  least  for  the  moment,  settled. 
I,  however,  immediately  warned  the  Department  that  I 
believed  that  the  rulers  of  Germany  would  at  some  fu- 
ture date,  forced  by  public  opinion,  and  by  the  von  Tlr- 
pitz  and  Conservative  parties,  take  up  ruthless  submarine 
war  again,  possibly  in  the  autumn  but  at  any  rate  about 
February  or  March,  19 17. 

In  my  last  conversation  with  von  Bethmann-Hollweg 
before  leaving  the  Great  General  Headquarters,  when  he 
referred  to  the  cruiser  warfare  of  the  submarines,  he 
also  said,  "I  hope  now  that  if  we  settle  this  matter  your 
President  will  be  great  enough  to  take  up  the  question  of 
peace."  It  was  as  a  result  of  intimations  from  govern- 
ment circles  that,  after  my  return  to  Berlin,  I  gave  an  in- 
terview to  a  representative  of  a  Munich  newspaper,  ex- 
pressing my  faith  in  the  coming  of  peace,  although  I  was 


250        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

careful  to  say  that  It  might  be  a  matter  of  months  or 
even  years. 

Thereafter,  on  many  occasions  the  Chancellor  im- 
pressed upon  me  the  fact  that  America  must  do  some- 
thing towards  arranging  a  peace  and  that  if  nothing  was 
done  to  this  end,  public  opinion  in  Germany  would  un- 
doubtedly force  a  resumption  of  a  ruthless  submarine 
war. 

In  September  of  191 6,  I  having  mentioned  that  Mrs. 
Gerard  was  going  to  the  United  States  on  a  short  visit, 
von  Jagow  insistently  urged  me  to  go  also  in  order  to 
make  every  effort  to  induce  the  President  to  do  somcr 
thing  towards  peace;  and,  as  a  result  of  his  urging  and 
as  a  result  of  my  own  desire  to  make  the  situation  clear 
in  America,  I  sailed  from  Copenhagen  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  of  September  with  Mrs.  Gerard,  on  the  Danish 
ship,  Frederick  Fill,  bound  for  New  York.  I  had  spent 
almost  three  years  in  Berlin,  having  been  absent  during 
that  time  from  the  city  only  five  or  six  days  at  Kiel  and 
two  week-ends  in  Silesia  in  19 14,  with  two  weeks  at 
Munich  in  the  autumn,  two  days  at  Munich  and  two  days 
at  Parten-Kirchen  in  19 16,  and  two  week-ends  at  Her- 
ingsdorf,  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  with  visits  to 
British  prison  camps  scattered  through  the  two  and  a  half 
years  of  war. 

On  the  Frederick  VIII  were  Messrs.  Herbert  Swope 
of  the  New  York  World  and  William  C.  Bullitt  of  the 
Philadelphia  Ledger,  who  had  been  spending  some  time 
in  Germany.  I  impressed  upon  each  of  these  gentlemen 
my  fixed  belief  that  Germany  intended  shortly,  unless 
some  definite  move  was  made  toward  peace,  to  commence 
ruthless  submarine  war;  and  they  made  this  view  clear  in 
the  articles  which  they  wrote  for  their  respective  news- 
papers. 

Mr.  Swope's  articles  which  appeared  in  the  New  York 
World  were  immediately  republished  by  him  in  a  book 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  251 

called  *'lnslde  the  German  Empire.  In  Mr.  Swope's 
book  on  page  ninety-four,  he  says,  "The  campaign  for  the 
ruthless  U-boat  warfare  is  regarded  by  one  man  in  this 
country  who  speaks  with  the  highest  German  authority, 
as  being  in  the  nature  of  a  threat  intended  to  accelerate 
and  force  upon  us  a  movement  toward  peace.  Ambas- 
sador Gerard  had  his  attention  drawn  to  this  just  before 
he  left  Berlin  but  he  declined  to  accept  the  interpretation." 

On  page  eighty-eight  he  writes,  "Our  Embassy  in  Ber- 
lin expected  just  such  a  demonstration  as  was  given  by 
the  U-53  in  October  when  she  sank  six  vessels  off  Nan- 
tucket, as  a  lesson  of  what  Germany  could  do  in  our 
waters  if  war  came." 

On  page  seventy-four  he  says  further,  "Throughout 
Germany  the  objection  for  the  resumption  of  ruthless 
U-boat  warfare  of  the  Lusitania  type  grows  stronger  day 
by  day.  The  Chancellor  is  holding  out  against  it,  but 
how  long  he  can  restrain  it  no  one  can  say.  I  left  Ger- 
many convinced  that  only  peace  could  prevent  its  resump- 
tion. And  the  same  opinion  is  held  by  every  German 
with  whom  I  spoke,  and  it  is  held  also  by  Ambassador 
Gerard.  The  possibility  was  so  menacing  that  the  prin- 
cipal cause  of  the  Ambassador's  return  in  October  was 
that  he  might  report  to  Washington.  1  he  point  was  set 
out  in  press  despatches  at  that  time." 

I  wrote  a  preface  to  Mr.  Swope's  book  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  informing  the  American  public  in  this 
way  that  I  believed  that  Germany  intended  at  an  early 
date  to  resume  the  ruthless  U-boat  warfare. 

Our  trip  home  on  the  Frederick  VIII  was  without  in- 
cident except  for  tlie  fact  that  on  the  ninth  day  of  Octo- 
ber, Swope  came  to  the  door  of  my  stateroom  about 
tvi'elve  o'clock  at  night  and  informed  me  that  the  captain 
had  told  him  to  tell  me  that  the  wireless  had  brought  the 
news  that  German  submarines  were  operating  directly 
ahead  of  us  and  had  just  sunk  six  ships  in  the  neighbour- 


252        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

hood  of  Nantucket.  I  imagine  that  the  captain  slightly 
changed  the  course  of  our  ship,  but  next  day  the  odour  of 
burning  oil  was  quite  noticeable  for  hours. 

These  Danish  ships  in  making  the  trip  from  Copen- 
hagen to  New  York  were  compelled  to  put  in  at  the  port 
of  Kirkwall  in  the  Orkney  Islands,  north  of  Scotland, 
where  the  ship  was  searched  by  the  British  authorities. 
On  the  occasion  of  our  visit  to  Kirkwall,  on  this  trip,  a 
Swede,  who  had  been  so  foolish  as  to  make  a  sketch  of 
the  harbour  and  defences  of  Kirkwall  from  the  top  deck 
of  the  Frederick  VIII,  was  taken  off  the  boat  by  the  Brit- 
ish. The  British  had  very  cleverly  spotted  him  doing 
this  from  the  shore  or  a  neighbouring  boat,  through  a 
telescope. 

Ships  can  enter  Kirkwall  only  by  daylight  and  at  six 
o'clock  every  evening  trawlers  draw  a  net  across  the  en- 
trance to  the  harbour  as  a  protection  against  submarines. 
A  passage  through  this  net  is  not  opened  until  daylight 
the  following  morning. 

Captain  l^homson  of  the  Frederick  Fill,  the  ship 
which  carried  us  to  America  and  back  to  Copenhagen,  by 
his  evident  mastery  of  his  profession  gave  to  all  of  his 
passengers  a  feeling  of  confidence  on  the  somewhat  peril- 
ous voyage  in  those  dangerous  waters. 

When  I  reached  America,  on  October  eleventh,  I  was 
given  a  most  flattering  reception  and  the  freedom  of  the 
Cky  of  New  York.  Within  a  few  days  after  my  arrival, 
the  President  sent  for  me  to  visit  him  at  Shadow  Lawn, 
at  Long  Branch,  and  I  was  with  him  for  over  four  hours 
and  a  quarter  in  our  first  conference.  I  saw  him,  of 
course,  after  the  election,  before  returning  to  Germany, 
and  in  fact  sailed  on  the  fourth  of  December  at  his  spe- 
cial request. 

Before  I  left  I  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  de- 
sired above  all  things  both  to  keep  and  to  make  peace. 
Of  course,  this  question  of  making  peace  is  a  very  deli- 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  253 

cate  one.  A  direct  offer  on  our  part  might  have  sub- 
jected us  to  the  same  treatment  which  we  gave  Great 
Britain  during  our  Civil  War  when  Great  Britain  made 
overtures  looking  towards  the  establishment  of  peace,  and 
the  North  answered,  practically  telling  the  British  Gov- 
ernment that  it  could  attend  to  its  own  business,  that  it 
would  brook  no  interference  and  would  regard  further 
overtures  as  unfriendly  acts. 

The  Germans  started  this  war  without  any  consulta- 
tion with  the  United  States,  and  then  seemed  to  think  that 
they  had  a  right  to  demand  that  the  United  States  make 
peace  for  them  on  such  terms  and  at  such  time  as  they 
chose;  and  that  the  failure  to  do  so  gave  them  a  vested 
right  to  break  all  the  laws  of  warfare  against  their  ene- 
mies and  to  murder  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  on 
the  high  seas,  in  violation  of  the  declared  principles  of 
international  law. 

Nevertheless,  I  think  that  the  inclination  of  the  Presi- 
dent was  to  go  very  far  towards  the  forcing  of  peace. 

Our  trip  from  New  York  to  Copenhagen  was  unevent- 
ful, cold  and  dark.  We  were  captured  by  a  British 
cruiser  west  of  the  Orkneys  and  taken  in  for  the  usual 
search  to  the  port  of  Kirkwall  where  we  remained  two 
days. 

The  President  impressed  upon  me  his  great  interest 
in  the  Belgians  deported  to  Germany.  The  action  of 
Germany  in  thus  carrying  a  great  part  of  the  male  popu- 
lation of  Belgium  into  virtual  slavery  had  roused  great 
indignation  in  America.  As  the  revered  Cardinal  Far- 
ley said  to  me  a  few  days  before  my  departure,  "You 
have  to  go  back  to  the  time  of  the  Medes  and  the  Per- 
sians to  find  a  like  example  of  a  whole  people  carried 
into  bondage." 

Mr.  Grew  had  made  representations  about  this  to  the 
Chancellor  and,  on  my  return,  I  immediately  took  up  the 
question. 


254        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

I  was  informed  that  it  was  a  military  measure,  that 
Ludendorf  had  feared  that  the  British  would  break 
through  and  overrun  Belgium  and  that  the  military  did 
not  propose  to  have  a  hostile  population  at  their  backs 
who  might  cut  the  rail  lines  of  communication,  telephones 
and  telegraphs;  and  that  for  this  reason  the  deportation 
had  been  decided  on.  I  was,  however,  told  that  I  would 
be  given  permission  to  visit  these  Belgians.  The  passes, 
nevertheless,  which  alone  made  such  visiting  possible 
were  not  delivered  until  a  few  days  before  I  left  Ger- 
many. 

Several  of  these  Belgians  who  were  put  at  work  in  Ber- 
lin managed  to  get  away  and  come  to  see  me.  They  gave 
me  a  harrowing  account  of  how  they  had  been  seized  in 
Belgium  and  made  to  work  in  Germany  at  making  muni- 
tions to  be  used  probably  against  their  own  friends.  I 
said  to  the  Chancellor,  "There  are  Belgians  employed  in 
making  shells  contrary  to  all  rules  of  war  and  the  Hague 
conventions."  He  said,  "I  do  not  believe  it."  I  said, 
"My  automobile  is  at  the  door.  I  can  take  you,  in  four 
minutes,  to  where  thirty  Belgians  are  working  on  the 
manufacture  of  shells."     But  he  did  not  find  time  to  go. 

Americans  must  understand  that  the  Germans  will  stop 
at  nothing  to  win  this  war,  and  that  the  only  thing  they 
respect  is  force. 

While  I  was  in  America  von  Jagow,  as  had  been  pre- 
dicted by  his  enemies  in  Berlin,  had  fallen  and  Zimmer- 
mann  had  been  given  his  place. 

I  remained  a  day  in  Copenhagen,  in  order  to  arrange 
for  the  transportation  to  Germany  of  the  three  tons  of 
food  which  I  had  brought  from  New  York,  and,  also,  in 
order  to  lunch  with  Count  Rantzau,  the  German  Minister, 
a  most  able  diplomat. 

Therefore,  the  President's  peace  note  arrived  in  Ber- 
lin just  ahead  of  me  and  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Grew  a 
few  hours  before  my  arrival.     Joseph  C.  Grew,  of  Bos- 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS        255 

ton,  was  next  in  command  during  all  my  stay  in  Berlin. 
He  most  ably  carried  on  the  work  of  the  Embassy  dur- 
ing my  absence  on  the  trip  to  America,  in  the  autumn  of 
19 1 6;  and  at  ail  times  was  of  the  greatest  assistance  to 
me.     I  hope  to  see  him  go  far  in  his  career. 

This  note  was  dated  E)ecember  eighteenth,  1916,  and 
was  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  American 
Ambassadors  at  the  capitals  of  the  belligerent  powers.  It 
commenced  as  follows:  "The  President  directs  me  to 
send  you  the  following  communication  to  be  presented 
immediately  to  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the 
government  to  which  you  are  accredited. 

"The  President  of  the  United  States  has  instructed  me 
to  suggest  to  the  (here  is  inserted  a  designation  of  the 
government  addressed)  a  course  of  action  in  regard  to 
the  present  war  which  he  hopes  that  the  government  will 
take  under  consideration  as  suggested  in  the  most  friendly 
spirit,  etc." 

In  the  note  which  was  sent  to  the  Central  Powers  it 
was  stated:  "The  suggestion  which  I  am  instructed  to 
make,  the  President  has  long  had  it  in  mind  to  offer.  He 
is  somewhat  embarrassed  to  offer  it  at  this  particular 
time  because  it  may  now  seem  to  have  been  prompted  by 
a  desire  to  play  a  part  in  connection  with  the  recent  over- 
tures of  the  Central  Powers." 

Of  course,  the  President  thus  referred  to  the  address 
made  by  Bethmann-Hollweg  in  the  Reichstag  in  Decem- 
ber, in  which,  after  reviewing  generally  the  military  sit- 
u:-ion,  the  Chancellor  said:  "In  a  deep  moral  and  re- 
ligious sense  of  duty  towards  this  nation  and  beyond  it 
towards  humanity,  the  Emperor  now  considers  that  the 
moment  has  come  for  official  action  towards  peace.  His 
Majesty,  therefore,  in  complete  harmony  and  in  com- 
mon with  our  Allies  decided  to  propose  to  the  hostile 
powers  to  enter  peace  negotiations."  And  the  Chan- 
cellor continued,  saying  that  a  note  to  this  effect  had 


256        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

been  transmitted  that  morning  to  all  hostile  powers, 
through  the  representatives  of  these  powers  to  whom  the 
interests  and  rights  of  Germany  in  the  enemy  States  had 
been  entrusted;  and  that,  therefore,  the  representatives 
of  Spain,  the  United  States  and  Switzerland  had  been 
asked  to  forward  the  note. 

Coincidently  with  this  speech  of  the  Chancellor's, 
which  was  December  twelfth,  191 6,  the  Emperor  sent  a 
message  to  the  commanding  generals  reading  as  follows : 
"Soldiers!  In  agreement  with  the  sovereigns  of  my  Al- 
lies and  with  the  consciousness  of  victory,  I  have  made 
an  offer  of  peace  to  the  enemy.  Whether  it  will  be  ac- 
cepted is  still  uncertain.  Until  that  moment  arrives  you 
will  fight  on." 

I  return  to  the  President's  note. 

The  President  suggested  that  early  occasion  be  sought 
to  call  out  from  all  the  nations  now  at  war  an  avowal  of 
their  respective  views  as  to  the  terms  upon  which  the 
war  might  be  concluded,  and  the  arrangements  which 
would  be  deemed  satisfactory  as  a  guarantee  against  its 
renewal. 

He  called  the  attention  of  the  world  to  the  fact  that 
according  to  the  statements  of  the  statesmen  of  the  bel- 
ligerent powers,  the  objects  which  all  sides  had  in  mind 
seemed  to  be  the  same.  And  the  President  finally  said 
that  he  was  not  proposing  peace,  not  even  offering  media- 
tion; but  merely  proposing  that  soundings  be  taken  in 
order  that  all  nations  might  know  how  near  might  be  the 
haven  of  peace  for  which  all  mankind  longed. 

Shortly  after  the  publication  of  this  note  Secretary 
Lansing  gave  an  interview  to  the  representatives  of  the 
American  press  in  which  he  stated  that  America  was  very 
near  war.     This  interview  he  later  explained. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  my  return  to  Berlin  I  had 
interviews  with  Zimmermann  and  the  Chancellor.  Zim- 
mermann  said  that  we  were  such  personal  friends  that  he 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  257 

was  sure  we  could  continue  to  work,  as  we  had  in  the 
past,  in  a  frank  and  open  manner,  putting  all  the  cards 
upon  the  table  and  working  together  in  the  interests  of 
peace.  I,  of  course,  agreed  to  this  and  it  seemed,  on  the 
surface,  as  if  everything  would  go  smoothly. 

Although  the  torpedoing  without  warning  of  the 
Marina,  while  I  was  in  the  United  States,  had  resulted  in 
the  death  of  a  number  of  Americans  on  board,  neverthe- 
less there  seemed  to  be  an  inclination  on  the  part  of  the 
government  and  people  of  the  United  States  to  forget 
this  incident  provided  Germany  would  continue  to  keep 
her  pledges  given  in  the  Sussex  Note.  During  all  the 
period  of  the  war  in  Germany  I  had  been  on  good  terms 
with  the  members  of  the  government,  namely,  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg,  von  Jagow,  Zimmermann  and  the  other 
officials  of  the  Foreign  Office,  as  well  as  with  Helfferich, 
Dr.  Solf,  the  Colonial  Minister,  Kaempf,  the  President 
of  the  Reichstag  and  a  number  of  the  influential  men  of 
Germany  such  as  von  Gwinner,  of  the  Deutsche  Bank, 
Gutmann  of  the  Dresdener  Bank,  Dr.  Walter  Rathenau, 
who  for  a  long  time  was  at  the  head  of  the  department  for 
the  supply  and  conservation  of  raw  materials,  General 
von  Kessel,  Over-Commander  of  the  Mark  of  Branden- 
burg, in  spite  of  many  tiffs  with  him  over  the  treatment 
of  prisoners,  Theodor  Wolff,  editor  of  the  Tageblatt, 
Professor  Stein,  Maximilian  Harden  and  many  others. 

For  a  long  time  the  fight  waged  by  von  Bethmann- 
HoUweg  was  America's  fight  and  a  fight  for  peace,  so 
much  so  that  the  newspapers  which  attacked  the  Chan- 
cellor were  the  same  ones  which  had  attacked  President 
Wilson,  America  and  Americans  in  general,  and  which 
had  very  often  included  me  in  their  attacks.  During 
every  crisis  between  America  and  Germany  I  had  acted 
with  von  Jagow  and  Zimmermann  in  a  most  confidential 
wav,  looking  forward  always  to  one  object,  namely,  the 


258        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

preservation  of  peace  between  our  respective  countries. 
Many  suggestions  were  made  which,  I  think,  materially 
aided  up  to  that  time  in  the  preservation  of  peace. 

The  Chancellor  and  the  Foreign  Office,  however, 
through  sheer  weakness  did  nothing  to  prevent  the  insults 
to  our  flag  and  President  perpetrated  by  the  "League  of 
Truth";  although  both  under  the  law  and  the  regulations 
of  the  "State  of  Siege"  this  gang  could  not  operate  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  authorities.  So  far  as  I  was  con- 
cerned personally,  a  few  extra  attacks  from  tooth  car- 
penters and  snake  dancers  meant  nothing,  but  certainly 
aroused  my  interest  in  the  workings  of  the  Teutonic  of- 
ficial brain. 

On  my  return  every  one  in  official  life,; — von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg,  Zimmermann,  von  Stumm  who  suc- 
ceeded Zimmermann,  von  der  Busche,  formerly  German 
Minister  in  the  Argentine,  who  had  equal  rank  with 
Stumm  in  the  Foreign  Office — all  without  exception  and 
in  the  most  convincing  language  assured  me  that  cases 
like  that  of  the  Marina,  for  example,  were  only  acci- 
dents and  that  there  was  every  desire  on  the  part  of  Ger- 
many to  maintain  the  pledges  given  in  the  Sussex  Note. 

And  the  great  question  to  be  solved  is  whether  the  Ger- 
mans in  making  their  offers  of  peace,  in  begging  me  to 
go  to  America  to  talk  peace  to  the  President,  were  sin- 
cerely anxious  for  peace,  or  were  only  making  these  gen- 
eral offers  of  peace  in  order  to  excuse  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  a  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  and 
to  win  to  their  side  public  opinion  in  the  United  States, 
in  case  such  warfare  should  be  resumed. 

Had  the  decision  rested  with  the  Chancellor  and  with 
the  Foreign  Office,  instead  of  with  the  military,  I  am  sure 
that  the  decision  would  have  been  against  the  resumption 
of  this  ruthless  war.  But  Germany  is  not  ruled  in  war 
time  by  the  civilian  power.  Hindenburg  at  the  time  I 
left  for  America  was  at  the  head  of  the  General  Staff  and 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  259 

Ludendorf,  who  had  been  Chief  of  Staff,  had  been  made 
the  Quartermaster  General  in  order  that  he  might  follow 
Hindenburg  to  General  Headquarters. 

Hindenburg,  shortly  before  his  battle  of  the  Masurian 
Lakes,  was  a  General  li\  ing  in  retirement  at  Hanover. 
Because  he  had  for  years  specialised  in  the  study  of  this 
region  he  was  suddenly  called  to  the  command  of  the 
German  army  which  was  opposing  the  Russian  invasions. 
Ludendorf,  who  had  been  Colonel  of  a  regiment  at  the 
attack  on  Liege,  was  sent  with  him  as  his  Chief  of  Staff. 
The  success  of  Hindenburg  In  his  campaigns  Is  too  well 
known  to  require  recapitulation  here.  He  became  the 
popular  Idol  of  Germany,  the  one  general — in  fact  the 
one  man — whom  the  people  felt  that  they  could  idolise. 
But  shortly  before  my  trip  to  America  an  Idea  was  creep- 
ing through  the  mind  of  the  German  people  leading  them 
to  believe  that  Hindenburg  was  but  the  front,  and  that 
the  brains  of  the  combination  had  been  furnished  by  Lu- 
dendorf. Many  Germans  in  a  position  to  know  told  me 
that  the  real  dictator  of  Germany  was  Ludendorf. 

My  trip  to  America  was  made  principally  at  the  In- 
stance of  von  Jagow  and  the  Chancellor,  and.  In  my  fare- 
well talk  with  the  Chancellor  a  few  days  before  leaving, 
I  asked  If  It  could  not  be  arranged,  since  he  was  always 
saying  that  the  civilian  power  was  inferior  to  that  of  the 
military,  that  I  should  see  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorf 
before  I  left.  This  proposed  meeting  he  either  could  not 
or  would  not  arrange,  and  shortly  after  my  return  I  again 
asked  the  Chancellor  If  I  could  not  see,  if  not  the  Em- 
peror, at  least  Hindenburg  and  Ludendorf,  who  the 
Chancellor  himself  had  said  were  the  leaders  of  the  mili- 
tary, and,  therefore,  the  leaders  of  Germany.  Again  I 
was  put  off. 

In  the  meantime  and  In  spite  of  the  official  assurance 
given  to  me  certain  men  In  Germany,  In  a  position  to 
know,  warned  me  that  the  government  intended  to  re- 


26o        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMAiNY 

sume  ruthless  submarine  war.  Ludendorf,  they  said,  had 
declared  in  favour  of  this  war  and,  according  to  them, 
that  meant  its  adoption. 

At  first  I  thought  that  Germany  would  approach  the 
resumption  of  ruthless  submarine  war  via  the  armed  mer- 
chantman issue. 

The  case  of  the  Yarrowdale  prisoners  seemed  to  bear 
out  this  theory.  A  German  raider  captured  and  sunk  a 
number  of  enemy  vessels  and  sent  one  of  the  captured 
boats,  the  Yarrowdale,  with  a  prize  crew  to  Swinemunde. 
On  board,  held  as  prisoners,  were  a  number  of  the  crews 
of  the  captured  vessels;  and  among  those  men  I  learned 
"under  the  rose,"  were  some  Americans.  7he  arrival 
of  the  Yarrowdale  was  kept  secret  for  some  time,  but  as 
soon  as  I  received  information  of  its  arrival,  I  sent  note 
after  note  to  the  Foreign  Office  demanding  to  know  if 
there  were  any  Americans  among  the  prisoner  crews. 

For  a  long  time  I  received  no  answer,  but  finally  Ger- 
many admitted  what  I  knew  already,  that  Americans  taken 
with  the  crews  of  captured  ships  were  being  held  as  pris- 
oners of  war,  the  theory  of  the  Germans  being  that  all 
employed  on  armed  enemy  merchant  ships  were  enemy 
combatants.  I  supposed  that  possibly  Germany  might 
therefore  approach  the  submarine  controversy  by  this 
route  and  claim  that  armed  merchantmen  were  liable  to 
be  sunk  without  notice. 

Instructed  by  the  State  Department,  I  demanded  the 
immediate  release  of  the  Yarrowdale  prisoners.  This 
was  accorded  by  Germany,  but,  after  the  breaking  of  re- 
lations, the  prisoners  were  held  back;  and  it  was  not  until 
after  we  left  Germany  that  they  were  finally  released. 

I  asked  permission  to  visit  these  prisoners  and  sent 
Mr.  Ayrault  and  Mr.  Osborne  to  the  place  Avhere  I  knew 
they  were  interned.  The  permission  to  visiu  them  ar- 
rived, but  on  the  same  day  orders  were  given  to  remove 
the  prisoners  to  other  camps.     Mr.  Osborne  and  Mr. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  261 

Ayrault,  however,  being  on  the  ground,  saw  the  prison- 
ers before  their  removal  and  reported  on  their  conditions. 
On  January  sixth  the  American  Association  of  Com- 
merce and  Trade  gave  me  a  dinner  at  the  Hotel  Adlon. 
This  was  made  the  occasion  of  a  sort  of  German-Amer- 
ican love-feast.  Zimmermann,  although  he  had  to  go 
early  in  the  evening  to  meet  the  Foreign  Minister  of 
Austria-Hungary,  was  present;  Helfferich,  Vice-Chancel- 
lor  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior;  Dr.  Solf,  the  Colonial 
Minister;  Sydow,  Minister  of  Commerce;  Dernburg;  von 
Gwinner  of  the  Deutsche  Bank;  Gutmann  of  the  Dres- 
dener  Bank;  Under  Secretary  von  der  Busche  of  the  For- 
eign Office;  the  Mayor  and  the  Police  President  of  Ber- 
lin; the  President  of  the  Berlin  Chamber  of  Commerce; 
Under  Secretary  von  Stumm  of  the  Foreign  Office;  and 
many  others  of  that  office.  There  were  present  also  Un- 
der Secretary  Richter  of  the  Interior  Department;  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Doeutelmoser  of  the  General  Staff;  the 
editors  and  proprietors  of  the  principal  newspapers  in 
Berlin;  Count  Montgelas,  who  had  charge  of  American 
affairs  in  the  Foreign  Office;  naval  officers  like  Captain 
Lans;  the  American  correspondents  in  Germany;  and 
Prince  Isenburg;  rubbing  shoulders  with  the  brewers, 
George  Ehret  and  Krueger,  of  New  York  and  Newark. 
There  were  literary  lights  like  Ludwig  Fulda,  Captain 
Persius,  Professor  Hans  Delbriick,  Dr.  Paasche,  Vice- 
President  of  the  Reichstag,  and  many  others  equally  cele- 
brated as  the  ones  that  I  have  named.  Speeches  were 
mads  by  Mr.  Wolf,  President  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion of  Commerce  and  Trade,  Helfferich,  Zimmermann, 
von  Gwinner  and  me.  A  tone  of  the  greatest  friendli- 
ness prevailed.  Zimmermann  referred  to  our  personal 
friendship  and  said  that  he  was  sure  that  we  should  be 
able  to  manage  everything  together.  Helfferich  in  his 
speech  said  that  I,  by  learning  German  and  studying  the 
life  of  the  German  people,  was  one  of  the  few  diplomats 


262        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

that  had  come  to  Germany  who  had  learned  something 
of  the  real  life  and  psychology  of  the  Germans.  Von 
Gwinner  made  a  speech  in  English  that  would  have  done 
credit  to  any  American  after-dinner  speaker;  and  I,  in 
my  short  address,  said  that  the  relations  between  the  two 
countries  had  never  been  better  and  that  so  long  as  my 
personal  friends  like  Zimmermann  and  other  members  of 
the  government,  who  I  named,  were  in  office,  I  was  sure 
that  the  good  relations  between  the  two  countries  would 
be  maintained.  I  spoke  also  of  the  sums  of  money  that 
I  had  brought  back  with  me  for  the  benefit  of  the  widows 
and  orphans  of  Germany. 

The  majority  of  the  German  newspapers  spoke  in  a 
very  kindly  way  about  this  dinner  and  about  what  was 
said  at  it.  Of  course,  they  all  took  what  I  said  as  an  ex- 
pression of  friendliness,  and  only  Reventlow  claimed  that, 
by  referring  to  the  members  of  the  government,  I  was 
interfering  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Germany. 

The  speeches  and,  in  fact,  this  dinner  constituted  a  last 
desperate  attempt  to  preserve  friendly  relations.  Both 
the  reasonable  men  present  and  I  knew,  almost  to  a  cer- 
tainty, that  return  to  ruthless  submarine  war  had  been 
decided  on  and  that  only  some  lucky  chance  could  prevent 
the  military,  backed  by  the  made  public  opinion,  from  in- 
sisting on  a  defiance  of  international  law  and  the  laws  of 
humanity. 

The  day  after  the  dinner  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  sent 
for  me  and  expressed  approval  of  what  I  said  and  thanked 
me  for  it  and  on  the  surface  it  seemed  as  if  everything 
was  "as  merry  as  a  marriage  bell."  Unfortunately,  I 
am  afraid  that  all  this  was  only  on  the  surface,  and  that 
perhaps  the  orders  to  the  submarine  commanders  to  re- 
commence ruthless  war  had  been  given  the  day  preced- 
ing this  love-feast. 

The  Germans  believed  that  President  Wilson  had  been 
elected  with  a  mandate  to  keep  out  of  war  at  any  cost, 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  263 

and  that  America  could  be  Insulted,  flouted  and  humili- 
ated with  impunity. 

Even  before  this  dinner  we  had  begun  to  get  rumours 
of  the  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine  war  and  within 
a  few  days  I  was  cabling  to  the  Department  Information 
based  not  upon  absolute  facts  but  upon  reports  which 
seemed  reliable  and  which  had  been  collected  through  the 
able  efforts  of  our  very  capable  naval  attache,  Com- 
mander Gherardl. 

And  this  information  was  confirmed  by  the  hints  given 
to  me  by  various  Influential  Germans.  Again  and  again 
after  the  sixth  of  January,  I  was  assured  by  Zimmermann 
and  others  In  the  Foreign  Office  that  nothing  of  the  kind 
was  contemplated. 

Now  were  the  German  moves  in  the  direction  of  peace 
sincere  or  not? 

From  the  time  when  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  first 
spoke  of  peace,  I  asked  him  and  others  what  the  peace 
terms  of  Germany  were.  I  could  never  get  any  one  to 
state  any  definite  terms  of  peace  and  on  several  occasions 
when  I  asked  the  Chancellor  whether  Germany  was  will- 
ing to  withdraw  from  Belgium,  he  always  said,  "Yes,  but 
with  guarantees."  Finally  in  January,  19 17,  when  he 
was  again  talking  of  peace,  I  said,  "What  are  these  peace 
terms  to  which  you  refer  continually?  Will  you  allow 
me  to  ask  a  few  questions  as  to  the  specific  terms  of 
peace?  First  are  the  Germans  willing  to  withdraw  from 
Belgium?"  The  Chancellor  answered,  "Yes,  but  with 
guarantees."  I  said,  "What  are  these  guarantees?"  He 
said,  "We  must  possibly  have  the  forts  of  Liege  and  Na- 
mur;  we  mur.t  have  other  forts  and  garrisons  throughout 
Belgium.  V/e  must  have  possession  of  the  railroad  lines. 
We  must  hive  possession  of  the  ports  and  other  means 
of  communication.  The  Belgians  will  not  be  allowed  to 
maintain  an  army,  but  we  must  be  allowed  to  retain  a 
large  army  in  Pelf^ium.     We  must  have  th:  commercial 


264        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

control  of  Belgium."  I  said,  "I  do  not  see  that  you  have 
left  much  for  the  Belgians  except  that  King  Albert  will 
have  the  right  to  reside  in  Brussels  with  an  honor  guard." 
And  the  Chancellor  said,  "We  cannot  allow  Belgium  to 
be  an  outpost  {Vorwerk)  of  England";  and  I  said,  "I 
do  not  suppose  the  English,  on  the  other  hand,  wish  it  to 
become  an  outpost  of  Germany,  especially  as  von  Tirpitz 
has  said  that  the  coast  of  Flanders  should  be  retained  in 
order  to  make  war  on  England  and  America."  I  con- 
tinued, "How  about  Northern  France?"  He  said,  "We 
are  willing  to  leave  Northern  France,  but  there  must  be  a 
rectificatioa  of  the  frontier."  I  said,  "How  about  the 
Eastern  frontier?"  He  said,  "We  must  have  a  very  sub- 
stantial rectification  of  our  frontier."  I  said,  "How 
about  Roumania?"  He  said,  "We  shall  leave  Bulgaria 
to  deal  with  Roumania."  I  said,  "How  about  Serbia?" 
He  said,  "A  very  small  Serbia  may  be  allowed  to  exist, 
but  that  is  a  question  for  Austria.  Austria  must  be  left 
to  do  what  she  wishes  to  Italy,  and  we  must  have  indemni- 
ties from  all  countries  and  all  our  ships  and  colonies 
back." 

Of  course,  "rectification  of  the  frontier"  is  a  polite 
term  for  "annexation." 

On  the  twenty-second  of  January,  19 17,  our  President 
addressed  the  Senate;  and  in  his  address  he  referred  to 
his  Note  of  the  eighteenth  of  December,  sent  to  all  bel- 
ligerent governments.  In  this  address  he  stated,  refer- 
ring to  the  reply  of  the  Entente  Powers  to  his  Peace 
Note  of  the  eighteenth  of  December,  "We  are  that  much 
nearer  to  the  definite  discussion  of  the  peace  which  shall 
end  the  present  war." 

He  referred  to  the  willingness  of  both  contestants  t© 
discuss  terms  of  peace,  as  follows:  "The  Central  Pow- 
ers united  in  reply  which  stated  merely  that  they  were 
ready  to  meet  their  antagonists  in  conference  to  discuss 
terms  of  peace.     The  Entente  Powers  have  replied  muth 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  265 

more  definitely  and  have  stated,  in  general  terms,  in- 
deed, but  with  sufficient  definiteness  to  imply  details,  the 
arrangements,  guarantees  and  acts  of  reparation  which 
they  deem  to  be  the  indispensable  conditions  of  a  satisfac- 
tory settlement.  We  are  that  much  nearer  a  definite  dis- 
cussion of  the  peace  which  shall  end  the  pre^'^nt  war." 
The  President  further  referred  to  a  world  concert  to 
guarantee  peace  in  the  future  and  said,  "The  present  war 
must  first  be  ended,  but  we  owe  it  to  candour  and  to  a  just 
regard  for  the  opinion  of  mankind  to  say  that  so  far  as 
our  participation  in  guarantees  of  future  peace  is  con- 
cerned, it  makes  a  great  deal  of  difference  in  what  way 
and  upon  what  terms  it  is  ended."  He  said  that  the 
statesmen  of  both  of  the  groups  of  nations  at  war  had 
stated  that  it  was  not  part  of  the  purpose  they  had  in 
mind  to  crush  their  antagonists,  and  he  said  that  it  must  be 
implied  from  these  assurances  that  the  peace  to  come 
must  be  "a  peace  without  victory." 

In  the  course  of  his  address  he  said:  "Statesmen 
everywhere  are  agreed  that  there  should  be  a  united,  in- 
dependent and  autonomous  Poland."  In  another  place 
he  said:  "So  far  as  practicable,  moreover,  every  great 
people  now  struggling  toward  a  full  development  of  its 
resources  and  its  powers  should  be  assured  a  direct  out- 
let to  the  highways  of  the  sea."  Where  this  cannot  be 
done  by  cession  of  territory  it  can  no  doubt  be  arranged 
by  the  neutralisation  of  direct  rights  of  way;  and  he 
closed  by  proposing  in  effect  that  the  nations  of  the  world 
should  adopt  the  Monroe  Doctrine  and  that  no  nation 
should  seek  to  explain  its  policy  for  any  other  nation  or 
people. 

After  the  receipt  of  the  Ultimatum  of  January  thirty- 
first  from  Germany,  the  Chancellor,  in  a  conversation  I 
had  with  him,  referred  to  this  Peace  Note  of  December 
eighteenth  and  to  the  speech  of  January  twenty-second. 

I  must  say  here  that  on  my  return  to  Germany  I  went 


266        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

v^ery  far  in  assuring  the  Chancellor  and  other  members 
of  the  Government  of  the  President's  desire  to  see  peace 
established  in  the  world;  and  I  told  them  that  I  believed 
that  the  President  was  ready  to  go  very  far  in  the  way 
of  coercing  any  nation  which  refused  a  reasonable  peace; 
but  I  also  impressed  on  all  the  members  of  the  Govern- 
ment with  whom  I  came  in  contact  my  belief  that  the  elec- 
tion had  not  in  any  way  altered  the  policy  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  I  warned  them  of  the  danger  to  our  good  rela- 
tions if  ruthless  submarine  warfare  should  be  resumed. 

Von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  however,  at  this  interview 
after  the  thirty-first  of  January,  said  that  he  had  been 
compelled  to  take  up  ruthless  submarine  war  because  it 
was  evident  that  President  Wilson  could  do  nothing 
towards  peace.  He  spoke  particularly  of  the  Presi- 
dent's speech  of  January  twenty-second  and  said  that  in 
that  speech  the  President  had  made  it  plain  that  he  con- 
sidered that  the  answer  of  the  Entente  Powers  to  his 
Peace  Note  formed  a  basis  for  peace,  which  was  a  thing 
impossible  for  Germany  even  to  consider;  and  said  fur- 
ther (and  this  was  a  criticism  I  heard  not  only  from  him, 
but  also  from  many  Germans),  that  when  the  President 
spoke  of  a  united  and  independent  Poland  he  evidently 
meant  to  take  away  from  Germany  that  part  of  Poland 
which  had  been  incorporated  in  the  Kingdom  of  Prussia 
and  give  it  to  this  new  and  independent  Kingdom,  thereby 
bringing  the  Eastern  frontier  of  Germany  within  two 
hours  by  motor  from  Berlin;  and  that,  further,  when  the 
President  spoke  of  giving  each  nation  a  highway  to  the 
sea,  he  meant  that  the  German  port  of  Dantzig  should  be 
turned  over  to  this  new  State  of  Poland,  thereby  not  only 
taking  a  Prussian  port  but  cutting  the  extreme  Eastern 
part  of  Prussia  from  the  remainder  of  the  country.  I 
said  that  these  objections  appeared  to  me  very  frivolous; 
that  the  President,  of  course,  like  a  clever  lawyer  endeav- 
ouring to  gain  his  end,  which  was  peace,  had  said  that  all 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  267 

parties  were  apparently  agreed  that  there  should  be  a 
peace;  that  if  Germany  were  fighting  a  merely  defensive 
war,  as  she  had  always  claimed,  she  should  be  greatly  de- 
lighted when  the  President  declared  that  all  the  weight 
of  America  was  in  favor  of  a  peace  without  victory, 
which  meant,  of  course,  that  Germany  should  be  secured 
from  that  crushing  and  dismemberment  which  Germany's 
statesmen  had  stated  so  often  that  they  feared.  I  said, 
further,  that  I  was  sure  that  when  the  President  spoke 
of  the  united  and  independent  State  of  Poland  he  had 
not,  of  course,  had  reference  to  Poland  at  any  particular 
period  of  its  history,  but  undoubtedly  to  Poland  as  con- 
stituted by  Germany  and  Austria  themselves;  and  that,  in 
referring  to  the  right  of  a  nation  to  have  access  to  the 
sea,  he  had  in  mind  Russia  and  the  Dardanelles  rather 
than  to  any  attempt  to  take  a  Prussian  port  for  the  bene- 
fit of  Poland. 

Von  Bethmann-Hollweg  said  that  one  of  the  principal 
reasons  why  Germany  had  determined  upon  a  resump- 
tion of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  was  because  of  this 
speech  of  the  President  to  the  American  Senate.  Of 
course,  the  trouble  with  this  feeling  and  the  criticism  of 
the  President's  speech  made  by  the  Chancellor  is  that  the 
orders  for  the  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine  warfare 
had  been  given  long  before  the  news  of  the  speech  came 
to  Germany. 

I  had  cabled  the  information  collected  by  Commander 
Gherardi  as  to  the  orders  given  to  submarines  long  before 
the  date  of  the  President's  speech,  and  it  happened  that 
on  the  night  after  I  had  received  the  German  note  an- 
nouncing this  resumption  I  was  taking  a  walk  after  din- 
ner about  the  snow-covered  streets  of  Berlin.  In  the 
course  of  this  walk  I  met  a  young  German  woman  of  my 
acquaintance  who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  the  Crown 
Princess.  She  was  on  her  way  on  foot  from  the  opera 
house,  where  she  had  been  with  the  Crown  Princess,  to 


268        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

the  underground  station,  for  by  this  time,  of  course,  taxis 
had  become  an  unknown  luxury  in  Berlin,  and  I  joined 
her.  I  told  her  of  the  Ultimatum  which  I  had  received 
at  six  o'clock  that  evening  from  Zimmermann  and  I  told 
her  that  I  was  sure  that  it  meant  the  breaking  of  diplo- 
matic relations  and  our  departure  from  Germany.  She 
expressed  great  surprise  that  the  submarine  warfare  was 
set  to  commence  on  the  thirty-first  of  January  and  said 
that  weeks  before  they  had  been  talking  over  the  matter 
at  the  Crown  Princess's  and  that  she  had  heard  then  that 
the  orders  had  been  given  to  commence  it  on  the  fifteenth. 
In  any  event  it  is  certain  that  the  orders  to  the  subma- 
rine commanders  had  been  given  long  prior  to  the  thirty- 
first  and  probably  as  early  as  the  fifteenth. 

I  sincerely  believe  that  the  only  object  of  the  Germans 
in  making  these  peace  offers  was  first  to  get  the  Allies,  if 
possible,  in  a  conference  and  there  detach  some  or  one 
of  them  by  the  offer  of  separate  terms;  or,  if  this  scheme 
failed,  then  it  was  believed  that  the  general  offer  and  talk 
about  peace  would  create  a  sentiment  so  favourable  to  the 
Germans  that  they  might,  without  fear  of  action  by  the 
United  States,  resume  ruthless  submarine  warfare  against 
England. 

A  week  or  two  before  the  thirty-first  of  January,  Dr. 
Solf  asked  me  if  I  did  not  think  that  it  would  be  possible 
for  the  United  States  to  permit  the  resumption  of  ruthless 
submarine  warfare  against  Great  Britain.  He  said  that 
three  months'  time  was  all  that  would  be  required  to  bring 
Great  Britain  to  her  knees  and  end  the  war.  And  in  fact 
so  cleverly  did  von  Tirpitz,  Grand  Admiral  von  Meuster, 
the  Conservatives  and  the  enemies  of  the  Chancellor  and 
other  advocates  of  submarine  war  carry  on  their  propa- 
ganda that  the  belief  was  ingrained  in  the  whole  of  the 
German  nation  that  a  resumption  of  this  ruthless  war 
would  lead  within  three  months  to  what  all  Germans  so 
ardently  desired — peace.      It  was  impossible  for  any  gov- 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  269 

crnment  to  resist  the  popular  demand  for  the  use  of  this 
illegal  means  of  warfare,  because  army  and  navy  and 
people  were  convinced  that  ruthless  submarine  war  spelled 
success  and  a  glorious  peace. 

But  this  peace,  of  course,  meant  only  a  German  peace, 
a  peace  as  outlined  to  me  by  the  Chancellor;  a  peace  im- 
possible for  the  Allies  and  even  for  the  world  to  ac- 
cept; a  peace  which  would  leave  Germany  immensely 
powerful  and  ready  immediately  after  the  war  to  take  up 
a  campaign  against  the  nations  of  the  Western  hemi- 
sphere; a  peace  which  would  compel  every  nation,  so  long 
as  German  autocracy  remained  in  the  saddle,  to  devote 
Its  best  energies,  the  most  fruitful  period  of  each  man's 
life,  to  preparations  for  war. 

On  January  thirtieth,  I  received  a  definite  intimation 
of  the  coming  Ultimatum  the  next  day  and,  judging  that 
the  hint  meant  the  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine  war, 
I  telegraphed  a  warning  to  the  American  Ambassadors 
and  Ministers  as  well  as  to  the  State  Department.  On 
January  thirty-first  at  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
I  received  from  Zimmermann  a  short  letter  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy: 

"The  Secretary  of  State  of  the  Foreign  Office,  Zim- 
mermann, requests  the  honor  of  the  visit  of  his  Ex- 
cellency, the  Ambassador  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  this  afternoon  at  six  o'clock  In  the  Foreign 
Office,  Wilhelmstrasse  75/76. 

"Berlin,  the  31st  January,  19 17." 

Pursuant  to  this  letter,  I  went  to  the  Foreign  Office  at 
six  o'clock.  Zimmermann  then  read  to  me  in  German  a 
note  from  the  Imperial  Government,  announcing  the  cre- 
ation of  the  war  zones  about  Great  Britain  and  France 
and  the  commencement  of  ruthless  submarine  warfare  at 
twelve  P.  M.  that  night.  I  made  no  comment,  put  the 
note  in  my  pocket  and  went  back  to  the  Embassy.      It  was 


270        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

then  about  seven  P.  M.  and,  of  course,  the  note  was  im- 
mediately translated  and  despatched  with  all  speed  to 
America. 

After  the  despatch  of  the  note  I  had  an  Interview  with 
the  Chancellor  in  which  he,  as  I  have  stated  above,  crit- 
icised both  the  Peace  Note  of  December  eighteenth  as  not 
being  definite  enough  and  the  speech  to  the  Senate  of 
January  twenty-second;  and  further  said  that  he  believed 
that  the  situation  had  changed,  that,  in  spite  of  what  the 
President  had  said  in  the  note  before  the  Sussex  settle- 
ment, he  was  now  for  peace,  that  he  had  been  elected  on 
a  peace  platform,  and  that  nothing  would  happen.  Zim- 
mermann  at  the  time  he  delivered  the  note  told  me  that 
this  submarine  warfare  was  a  necessity  for  Germany,  and 
that  Germany  could  not  hold  out  a  year  on  the  question 
of  food.  He  further  said,  "Give  us  only  two  months  of 
this  kind  of  warfare  and  we  shall  end  the  war  and  make 
peace  within  three  months." 

Saturday,  February  third,  the  President  announced  to 
Congress  the  breaking  of  diplomatic  relations  with  Ger- 
many. The  news  of  this,  of  course,  did  not  reach  Ber- 
lin until  the  next  day;  and  on  this  Saturday  afternoon 
Mrs.  Gerard  and  I  had  an  engagement  to  go  to  the  thea- 
tre with  Zimmermann  and  Mrs.  Friedlaender-Fuld-Mit- 
ford,  a  young  lady  whose  father  is  considered  the  richest 
man  in  Berlin,  and  who  had  been  married  to  a  young 
Englishman,  named  Mitford,  a  son  of  Lord  Redesdale. 
Through  no  fault  on  the  lady's  part,  there  had  been  an 
annulment  of  this  marriage;  and  she  was  occupying  a 
floor  of  her  own  in  the  handsome  house  of  her  father  and 
mother  on  the  Pariser-Platz  in  Berlin.  We  stopped  for 
Mrs.  Mitford  and  took  her  to  the  theatre  where  we 
saw  a  very  clever  play,  I  think  by  Thoma,  called  "Die 
Verlorene  Tochter"  (The  Prodigal  Daughter).  Zim- 
mermann did  not  come  to  the  play  but  joined  us  later  at 
the  Friedlaender-Fuld  House  where  we  had  a  supper  of 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  271 

four  in  Mrs.  Mitford's  apartments.  After  supper,  while 
I  was  talking  to  Zimmermann,  he  spoke  of  the  note  to 
America  and  said:  "During  the  past  month,  this  is  what 
I  have  been  doing  so  often  at  the  General  Headquarters 
with  the  Emperor.  I  often  thought  of  telling  you  what 
was  going  on  as  I  used  to  tell  you  in  the  old  days,  but  I 
thought  that  you  would  only  say  that  such  a  course  would 
mean  a  break  of  diplomatic  relations,  and  so  I  thought 
there  was  no  use  in  telling  you.  But  as  you  will  see, 
everything  will  be  all  right.  America  will  do  nothing, 
for  President  Wilson  is  for  peace  and  nothing  else. 
Everything  will  go  on  as  before.  I  have  arranged  for 
you  to  go  to  the  Great  General  Headquarters  and  see  the 
Kaiser  next  week  and  everything  will  be  all  right." 

The  next  day,  Sunday,  we  had  a  German  who  is  con- 
nected with  the  Foreign  Office  and  his  American  wife  to 
lunch,  and  another  German  who  had  been  in  America, 
also  connected  with  the  Foreign  Office.  Just  as  we  were 
going  in  to  lunch  some  one  produced  a  copy  of  the 
"B.  Z.,"  the  noon  paper  published  in  Berlin,  which  con- 
tained what  seemed  to  be  an  authentic  account  of  the 
breaking  of  diplomatic  relations  by  America.  The 
lunch  was  far  from  cheerful.  The  Germans  looked  very 
sad  and  said  practically  nothing,  while  I  tried  to  make 
polite  conversation  at  my  end  of  the  table. 

The  next  day  I  went  over  to  see  Zimmermann,  having 
that  morning  received  the  official  despatch  from  Wash- 
ington, and  told  him  that  I  had  come  to  demand  my  pass- 
ports. 

Of  course,  Zimmermann  by  that  time  had  received  the 
news  and  had  had  time  to  compose  himself.  The  Amer- 
ican correspondents  told  me  that  when  he  saw  them  on 
the  day  before,  he  had  at  first  refused  to  say  anything  and 
then  had  been  rather  violent  in  his  language  and  had 
finally  shown  great  emotion.  I  am  sure,  from  every- 
thing I  observed,  that  the  break  of  diplomatic  relations 


272        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERiMANY 

came  as  an  intense  surprise  to  him  and  to  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  government,  and  yet  I  cannot  imagine  why 
intelhgent  men  should  think  that  the  United  States  of 
America  had  fallen  so  low  as  to  bear  without  murmur 
this  sudden  kick  in  the  face. 

The  police  who  had  always  been  about  our  Embassy 
since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  were  now  greatly 
increased  in  numbers;  and  guarded  not  only  the  front  of 
the  house,  but  also  the  rear  and  the  surrounding  streets; 
but  there  was  no  demonstration  whatever  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  Berlin.  On  Tuesday  afternoon  I  went  out 
for  a  walk,  walking  through  most  of  the  principal  streets 
of  Berlin,  absolutely  alone,  and  on  my  return  to  the  Em- 
bassy I  found  Count  Montgelas,  who,  with  the  rank  of 
Minister,  was  at  the  head  of  the  department  which  in- 
cluded American  affairs  in  the  Foreign  Office.  I  asked 
Montgelas  why  I  had  not  received  my  passports,  and  he 
said  that  I  was  being  kept  back  because  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment did  not  know  what  had  happened  to  Count 
Bernstorff  and  that  there  had  been  rumours  that  the  Ger- 
man ships  in  America  had  been  confiscated  by  our  gov- 
ernment. I  said  that  I  was  quite  sure  that  Bernstorff 
was  being  treated  with  every  courtesy  and  that  the  Ger- 
man ships  had  not  been  confiscated.  I  said,  moreover, 
"I  do  not  see  why  I  have  to  disprove  your  idea  that 
Bernstorff  Is  being  maltreated  and  the  German  ships  con- 
fiscated. It  seems  to  me  it  is  for  you  to  prove  this;  and, 
at  any  event,  why  don't  you  have  the  Swiss  Government, 
which  now  represents  you,  cable  to  its  Minister  in  Wash- 
ington and  get  the  exact  facts?"  He  said,  "Well,  you 
know,  the  Swiss  are  not  used  to  cabling." 

He  then  produced  a  paper  which  was  a  re-affirmation 
of  the  treaty  between  Prussia  and  the  United  States  of 
1799,  with  some  very  extraordinary  clauses  added  to  it. 
He  asked  me  to  read  this  over  and  either  to  sign  it  or  to 
get  authority  to  sign  it,  and  said  that  if  it  was  not  signed 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  273 

it  would  be  very  difficult  for  Americans  to  leave  the  coun- 
try, particularly  the  American  correspondents.  I  read  this 
treaty  over  and  then  said,  "Of  course  I  cannot  sign  this 
on  my  own  responsibility  and  I  will  not  cable  to  my  gov- 
ernment unless  I  can  cable  in  cipher  and  give  them  my 
opinion  of  this  document."  He  said,  "That  is  impossi- 
ble."    This  treaty  was  as  follows: 

Agreement  between  Germany  and  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica concerning  the  treatment  of  each  other's  citizens  and  their 
private  property  after  the  severance  of  diplomatic  relations. 

Article  I. 

After  the  severance  of  diplomatic  relations  between  Germany 
and  the  United  States  of  America  and  in  the  event  of  the  out- 
break of  war  between  the  two  Powers  the  citizens  of  either  party 
and  their  private  property  in  the  territor>'  of  the  other  party  shall 
be  treated  according  to  Article  23  of  the  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
merce between  Prussia  and  the  United  States  of  11  July,  1799, 
with  the  following  explanatory  and  supplementary  clauses. 

Article  2. 

German  merchants  in  the  United  States  and  American  mer- 
chants in  Germany  shall  so  far  as  the  treatment  of  their  persons 
and  their  property  is  concerned  be  held  in  every  respect  on  a  par 
with  the  other  persons  mentioned  in  Article  23.  Accordingly  they 
shall  even  after  the  period  provided  for  in  Article  23  has  elapsed 
be  entitled  to  remain  and  continue  their  profession  in  the  country 
of  their  residence. 

Merchants  as  well  as  the  other  persons  mentioned  in  Article  23 
may  be  excluded  from  fortified  places  or  other  places  of  military 
importance. 

Article  3. 

Germans  in  the  United  States  and  Americans  in  Germany  shall 
be  free  to  leave  the  country  of  their  residence  within  the  times  and 
by  the  routes  that  shall  be  assigned  to  them  by  the  proper  authori- 
ties. 

The  persons  departing  shall  be  entitled  to  take  along  their  per- 
sonal property  including  money,  valuables  and  bank  accounts  ex- 
cepting such  property  the  exportation  of  which  is  prohibited  ac- 
cording to  general  provisions. 

Article  4. 

The  protection  of  Germans  in  the  United  States  and  of  Amer- 
icans in  Germany  and  of  their  property  shall  be  guaranteed  in  ac- 


274       MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

cordance  with  the  laws  existing  in  the  countries  of  either  party. 
They  shall  be  under  no  other  restrictions  concerning  the  enjoyment 
of  their  private  rights  and  the  judicial  enforcement  of  their  rights 
than  neutral  residents ;  they  may  accordingly  not  be  transferred  to 
concentration  camps  nor  shall  their  private  property  be  subject  to 
sequestration  or  liquidation  or  other  compulsory  alienation  except 
in  cases  that  under  the  existing  laws  apply  also  to  neutrals. 

As  a  general  rule,  German  property  in  the  United  States  and 
American  property  in  Germany  shall  not  be  subject  to  sequestra- 
tion or  liquidation  or  other  compulsory  alienation  under  other 
conditions  than  neutral  property. 

Article  5. 

Patent  rights  or  other  protected  rights  held  by  Germans  in  the 
United  States  or  Americans  in  Germany  shall  not  be  declared 
void ;  nor  shall  the  exercise  of  such  rights  be  impeded  nor  shall 
such  rights  be  transferred  to  others  without  the  consent  of  the  per- 
son entitled  thereto ;  provided  that  regulations  made  exclusively  in 
the  interest  of  the  State  shall  apply. 

Article  6. 

Contracts  made  between  Germans  and  Americans  either  before 
or  after  the  severance  of  diplomatic  relations,  also  obligations  of  all 
kinds  between  Germans  and  Americans  shall  not  be  declared  can- 
celled, void  or  in  suspension  except  under  provisions  applicable  to 
neutrals. 

Likewise  the  citizens  of  either  party  shall  not  be  impeded  in 
fulfilling  their  liabilities  arising  from  such  obligations  either  by 
injunctions  or  by  other  provisions  unless  these  apply  also  to  neu- 
trals. 

Article  7. 

The  provisions  of  the  sixth  Hague  Convention  relative  to  the 
treatment  of  enemy  merchant  ships  at  outbreak  of  hostilities  shall 
apply  to  the  merchant  vessels  of  either  party  and  their  cargo. 

The  aforesaid  ships  may  not  be  forced  to  leave  port  unless  at 
the  same  time  they  be  given  a  pass  recognised  as  binding  by  all  the 
enemy  sea  powers  to  a  home  port  or  a  port  of  an  allied  country  or 
to  another  port  of  the  country  in  which  the  ship  happens  to  be. 

Article  8. 

The  regulations  of  chapter  3  of  the  eleventh  Hague  Convention 
relative  to  certain  restrictions  in  the  exercise  of  the  right  of  cap- 
ture in  maritime  war  shall  apply  to  the  captains,  officers  and  mem- 
bers of  the  crews  of  merchant  ships  specified  in  Article  7  and  of 
such  merchant  ships  that  may  be  captured  in  the  course  of  a  possi- 
ble war. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  275 

/Article  g. 

This  agreement  shall  apply  also  to  the  colonies  and  other  foreign 
possessions  of  either  party. 
Berlin,  February       ,  191 7. 

I  then  said,  "I  shall  not  cable  at  all.  Why  do  you 
come  to  me  with  a  proposed  treaty  after  we  have  broken 
diplomatic  relations  and  ask  an  Ambassador  who  is  held 
as  a  prisoner  to  sign  it?  Prisoners  do  not  sign  treaties 
and  treaties  signed  by  them  would  not  be  worth  any- 
thing." And  I  also  said,  "After  your  threat  to  keep 
Americans  here  and  after  reading  this  document,  even  if 
I  had  authority  to  sign  it  I  would  stay  here  until  hell 
freezes  over  before  I  would  put  my  name  to  such  a 
paper." 

Montgelas  seemed  rather  rattled,  and  in  his  confusion  • 
left  the  paper  with  me — something,  I  am  sure,  he  did  not 
intend  to  do  in  case  of  a  refusal.  Montgelas  was  an  ex- 
tremely agreeable  man  and  I  think  at  all  times  had  cor- 
rectly predicted  the  attitude  of  America  and  had  been 
against  acts  of  frightfulness,  such  as  the  torpedoing  of 
the  Lus'itama  and  the  resumption  of  ruthless  submarine 
war.  I  am  sure  that  a  gentleman  like  Montgelas  under- 
took with  great  reluctance  to  carry  out  his  orders  in  the 
matter  of  getting  me  to  sign  this  treaty. 

I  must  cheerfully  certify  that  even  the  most  pro- 
German  American  correspondents  in  Berlin,  when  I  told 
them  of  Montgelas'  threat,  showed  the  same  fine  spirit 
as  their  colleagues.  All  begged  me  not  to  consider  them 
or  their  liberty  where  the  interests  of  America  were  in- 
volved. 

As  soon  as  diplomatic  relations  were  broken, — and  I 
broke  them  formally  not  only  in  my  conversation  with 
Zimmermann  of  Monday  morning  but  also  by  sending 
over  a  formal  written  request  for  my  passports  on  the 
evening  of  that  day,- — our  telegraph  privileges  were  cut 
oft.     I  was  not  even  allowed  to  send  telegrams  to  the 


276        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

American  consuls  throughout  Germany  giving  them  their 
instructions.  Mail  also  was  cut  off,  and  the  telephone. 
My  servants  were  not  even  permitted  to  go  to  the  nearby 
hotel  to  telephone.  In  the  meantime  we  completed  our 
preparations  for  departure.  We  arranged  to  turn  over 
American  interests,  and  the  interests  of  Roumania  and 
Serbia  and  Japan,  to  the  Spanish  Embassy;  and  the  in- 
terests of  Great  Britain  to  the  Dutch.  I  have  said  al- 
ready that  I  believe  that  Ambassadpr  Polo  de  Bernabe 
will  faithfully  protect  the  interests  of  America,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  Baron  Gevers  will  fearlessly  fight  the  cause  of 
the  British  prisoners. 

We  sold  our  automobiles;  and  two  beautiful  prize  win- 
ning saddle  horses,  one  from  Kentucky  and  one  from  Vir- 
ginia, which  I  had  brought  with  me  from  America,  went 
on  the  stage, — that  is,  I  sold  them  to  the  proprietor  of 
the  circus  in  Berlin! 

The  three  tons  of  food  which  we  had  brought  with  us 
from  America  we  gave  to  our  colleagues  in  the  diplomatic 
corps, — the  Spaniards,  Greeks,  Dutch  and  the  Central 
and  South  Americans.  I  had  many  friends  among  the 
diplomats  of  the  two  Americas  who  were  all  men  of  great 
ability  and  position  in  their  own  country.  I  think  that 
most  of  them  know  only  too  well  the  designs  against  Cen- 
tral and  South  America  cherished  by  the  Pan-Germans. 

Finally,  I  think  on  the  morning  of  Friday,  Mr.  Oscar 
King  Davis,  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tifnes,  re- 
ceived a  wireless  from  Mr.  Van  Anda,  editor  of  the  New 
York  Times,  telling  him  that  Bernstorff  and  his  staff  were 
being  treated  with  every  courtesy  and  that  the  German 
ships  had  not  been  confiscated.  In  the  evening  our  tele- 
phone was  reconnected,  and  we  were  allowed  to  receive 
some  telegrams  and  to  send  open  telegrams  to  the  con- 
suls, etc.  throughout  Germany;  and  we  were  notified  that 
we  would  probably  be  allowed  to  leave  the  next  day  in 
the  evening. 


DIPLOMATIC  NEGOTIATIONS  277 

Always  followed  by  spies,  I  paid  as  many  farewell  vis- 
its to  my  diplomatic  colleagues  as  I  was  able  to  see;  and 
on  Saturday  I  thought  that,  in  spite  of  the  ridiculous 
treatment  accorded  us  in  cutting  off  the  mail  and  tele- 
phone and  in  holding  me  for  nearly  a  week,  I  would  leave 
in  a  sporting  spirit:  I  therefore,  had  my  servant  telephone 
and  ask  whether  Zimmermann  and  von  Bethmann-Holl- 
weg  would  receive  me.  I  had  a  pleasant  farewell  talk 
of  about  half  an  hour  with  each  of  them  and  I  expressly 
told  the  Chancellor  that  I  had  come  to  bid  him  a  personal 
farewell,  not  to  make  a  record  for  any  White  Book,  and 
that  anything  he  said  would  remain  confidential.  I  also 
stopped  in  to  thank  Dr.  Zahn,  of  the  Poreign  Office,  who 
had  arranged  the  details  of  our  departure,  and  gave  him 
a  gold  cigarette  case  as  a  souvenir  of  the  occasion.  At 
the  last  moment,  the  Germans  allowed  a  number  of  the 
consuls  and  clerks  who  had  been  working  in  the  Embassy, 
and  the  American  residents  in  Berlin,  to  leave  on  the 
train  with  us;  so  that  we  were  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  persons  in  all  on  this  train,  which  left  the  Pots- 
damer  station  at  eight-ten  in  the  evening.  The  time  of 
our  departure  had  not  been  publicly  announced,  but  al- 
though the  automobiles,  etc.,  in  front  of  the  Embassy 
might  have  attracted  a  crowd,  there  was  no  demonstra- 
tion whatever;  and,  in  fact,  during  this  week  that  I  was 
detained  in  Berlin  I  walked  all  over  the  city  every  after- 
noon and  evening,  went  into  shops,  and  so  on,  without  en- 
countering any  hostile  demonstration. 

rhere  was  a  large  crowd  in  the  station  to  see  us  off. 
All  the  Spanish  Embassy,  Dutch,  Greeks  and  many  of  our 
colleagues  from  Central  and  South  America  were  there. 
There  were,  from  the  Foreign  Office,  Montgclas,  Dr. 
Roediger,  Prittwitz  and  Horstmann.  As  tiie  train 
pulled  out,  a  number  of  the  Americans  left  in  Berlin  who 
were  on  the  station  platform  raised  quite  a  vigorous  cheer. 

Two  officers  had  been  sent  by  the   Imperial  Go\em- 


278        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ment  to  accompany  us  on  this  train;  one,  a  Major  von 
der  Hagen,  sent  by  the  General  Staff  and  the  other,  a 
representative  of  the  Foreign  Office,  Baron  Wernher  von 
Ow-Wachendorf.  It  was  quite  thoughtful  of  the  For- 
eign Office  to  send  this  last  officer,  as  it  was  by  our  ef- 
forts that  he  had  secured  his  exchange  when  he  was  a 
prisoner  in  England;  and  he,  therefore,  would  be  sup- 
posed to  entertain  kindly  feelings  for  our  Embassy. 

I  had  ordered  plenty  of  champagne  and  cigars  to  be  put 
on  the  train  and  we  were  first  invited  to  drink  champagne 
with  the  officers  in  the  dining  car;  then  they  joined  us 
in  the  private  salon  car  which  we  occupied  in  the  end  of 
the  train.  The  journey  was  uneventful.  Outside  some 
of  the  stations  a  number  of  people  were  drawn  up  who 
stared  at  the  train  in  a  bovine  way,  but  who  made  no 
demonstration  of  any  kind. 

We  went  through  Wiirttemburg  and  entered  Switzer- 
land by  way  of  Schaffhausen.  The  two  officers  left  us 
at  the  last  stop  on  the  German  side.  I  had  taken  the 
precaution  before  we  left  Berlin  to  find  out  their  names, 
and,  as  they  left  us,  I  gave  each  of  them  a  gold  cigarette 
case  inscribed  with  his  name  and  the  date. 

At  the  first  station  on  the  Swiss  side  a  body  of  Swiss 
troops  were  drawn  up,  presenting  arms,  and  the  Colonel 
commanding  the  Swiss  army  (there  are  no  generals  in 
Switzerland),  attended  by  several  staff  officers,  came  on 
the  train  and  travelled  with  us  nearly  to  Zurich. 

I  started  to  speak  French  to  one  of  these  staff  officers, 
but  he  interrupted  me  by  saying  in  perfect  English,  "You 
do  not  have  to  speak  French  to  me.  My  name  is  Iselin, 
many  of  my  relations  live  in  New  York  and  I  lived  there 
myself  some  years." 

At  Zurich  we  left  the  German  special  train,  and  were 
met  on  the  platform  by  some  grateful  Japanese,  the 
American  Consul  and  a  number  of  French  and  Swiss  news- 
paper reporters,  thus  ending  our  exodus  from  Germany. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

LIBERALS  AND  REASONABLE  MEN 

I  HAVE  already  expressed  a  belief  that  Germany  will 
not  be  forced  to  make  peace  because  of  a  revolution, 
and  that  sufficient  food  will  be  somehow  found  to  carry 
the  population  during  at  least  another  year  of  war. 

What  then  offers  a  prospect  of  reasonable  peace,  sup- 
posing, of  course,  that  the  Germans  fail  in  the  submarine 
blockade  of  England  and  that  the  crumbling  up  of  Rus- 
sia does  not  release  from  the  East  frontier  soldiers 
enough  to  break  the  lines  of  the  British  and  French  In 
France? 

I  think  that  It  Is  only  by  an  evolution  of  Germany  her- 
self toward  liberalism  that  the  world  will  be  given  such 
guarantees  of  f"*"ure  peace  as  will  justify  the  termina- 
tion of  this  war. 

There  is,  properly  speaking,  no  great  liberal  party  in 
the  political  arena  in  Germany.  As  I  have  said,  the 
Reichstag  Is  divided  roughly  into  Conservatives,  Roman 
Catholics,  or  Centrum,  and  Social  Democrats.  The  so- 
called  National  Liberal  party  has  in  this  war  shown  it- 
self a  branch  of  the  Conservative  party,  and  on  some  Is- 
sues as  bitter,  as  conservative,  as  the  Junkers  themselves. 
Herr  Bassermann  and  Herr  Stresemann  have  not  shown 
themselves  leaders  of  liberal  thought,  nor  has  their  lead- 
ership been  such  as  to  Inspire  conndence  In  their  political 
sagacity. 

It  was  Stresemann  who  on  May  thirtieth,  191 6,  said 
in  the  Reichstag  referring  to  President  Wilson  as  a  peace- 
maker, "We  thrust  the  hand  of  Wilson  aside."     On  the 

279 


28o        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

day  following,  the  day  on  which  the  President  announced 
to  Congress  the  breaking  of  diplomatic  relations,  news 
of  that  break  had  not  yet  arrived  in  Berlin  and  Herr 
Stresemann  on  that  peaceful  Sunday  morning  was  en- 
gaged in  making  a  speech  to  the  members  of  the  National 
Liberal  party  in  which  he  told  them  that  as  a  result  of 
his  careful  study  of  the  American  situation,  of  his  care- 
ful researches  into  American  character  and  politics,  he 
could  assure  them  that  America  would  never  break  with 
Germany.  As  he  concluded  his  speech  and  sat  down 
amid  the  applause  of  his  admirers,  a  German  who  had 
been  sitting  in  the  back  of  the  room  rose  and  read  from 
the  noon  paper,  the  "B.  Z.,"  a  despatch  from  Holland 
giving  the  news  that  America  had  broken  relations  with 
Germany.  The  political  skill  and  foresight  of  Herr 
Stresemann  may  be  judged  from  the  above  incident. 

The  Socialists,  or  Social  Democrats,  more  properly 
speaking,  have  shown  themselves  in  opposition  to  the 
monarchical  form  of  government  in  Germany.  This  has 
put  them  politically,  militarily  and  socially  beyond  the 
pale. 

After  a  successful  French  attack  in  the  Champagne,  I 
heard  it  said  of  a  German  woman,  whose  husband  was 
thought  to  be  killed,  that  her  rage  and  despair  had  been 
so  great  that  she  had  said  she  would  become  a  Social 
Democrat;  and  her  expression  was  repeated  as  showing 
to  what  lengths  grief  had  driven  her.  This  girl  was  the 
wife  of  an  ordinary  clerk  working  in  Berlin. 

The  Social  Democrats  are  not  given  offices,  are  not 
given  titles:  they  never  join  the  class  of  "Rat,"  and  they 
cannot  hope  to  become  officers  of  the  army.  Did  not 
Lieutenant  Forstner,  the  notorious  centre  of  the  Zabern 
Affair,  promise  a  reward  to  the  first  one  of  his  men  who 
in  case  of  trouble  should  shoot  one  "of  those  damn  So- 
cial Democrats"? 

There  is,  therefore,  no  refuge  at  present  politically, 


LIBERALS  AND  REASONABLE  MEN     281 

for  the  reasonable  men  of  liberal  inclinations;  and  it  is 
these  liberal  men  who  must  themselves  create  a  liberal 
party:  a  party,  membership  in  which  will  not  entail  a  loss 
of  business,  a  loss  of  prospects  of  promotion  and  social 
degradation. 

There  are  many  such  men  in  Germany  to-day;  perhaps 
some  of  the  conservative  Socialists  will  join  such  a  party, 
and  there  are  men  in  the  government  itself  whose  habits 
of  mind  and  thought  are  not  incompatible  with  member- 
ship in  a  liberal  organisation.  i'he  Chancellor  himself 
is,  perhaps,  at  heart  a  Liberal.  He  comes  of  a  banking 
family  in  Frankfort  and  while  there  stands  before  his 
name  the  "von"  which  means  nobility,  and  while  he  owns 
a  country  estate,  the  whole  turn  of  his  thought  is  towards 
a  philosophical  liberalism.  Zimmermann,  the  Foreign 
Secretary,  although  the  mental  excitement  caused  by  his 
elevation  to  the  Foreign  Office  at  a  time  of  stress,  made 
him  go  over  to  the  advocates  of  ruthless  submarine  war, 
lock,  stock  and  barrel,  is  nevertheless  at  heart  a  Liberal 
and  violently  opposed  to  a  system  which  draws  the  lead- 
ers of  the  country  from  only  one  aristocratic  class.  Dr. 
Solf,  the  Imperial  Colonial  Minister,  while  devoted  to  the 
Emperor  and  his  family  is  a  man  so  reasonable  in  his 
views,  so  indulgent  of  the  views  of  others,  and  indulgent 
without  weakness,  that  he  would  make  an  ideal  leader  of 
a  liberalised  Germany.  The  great  bankers,  merchants 
and  manufacturers,  although  they  appreciate  the  luscious 
dividends  that  they  have  received  during  the  peaceful 
years  since  1870,  nevertheless  feel  under  their  skins  the 
ignominy  of  living  in  a  country  where  a  class  exists  by 
birth,  a  class  not  even  tactful  enough  to  conceal  its  an- 
cient contempt  for  all  those  who  soil  their  hands  by  busi- 
ness or  trade. 

In  fact  such  a  party  is  a  necessity  for  Germany  as  a 
buffer  against  the  extreme  Social  Democrats. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  the  soldiers  who  hare  fought 


282        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

In  the  mud  of  the  trenches  for  three  years  will  most  In- 
sistently demand  a  redistricting  of  the  Reichstag  and  an 
abolition  of  the  Inadequate  circle  voting  of  Prussia.  And 
when  manhood  suffrage  comes  In  Prussia  and  when  the 
industrial  population  of  Germany  gets  that  representa- 
ton  in  the  Reichstag  out  of  which  they  have  been  brazenly 
c-'ieated  for  so  many  years,  it  may  well  be  that  a  great 
liberal  party  will  be  the  only  defence  of  private  property 
against  the  assault  of  an  enraged  and  justly  revengeful 
social  democracy. 

The  workingmen  of  Germany  have  been  fooled  for  a 
long  time.  They  constitute  that  class  of  which  President 
Lincoln  spoke,  "You  can  fool  some  of  the  people  all  of 
the  time" ;  and  the  middle  class  of  manufacturers,  mer- 
chants, etc.  have  acquiesced  in  the  system  because  of  the 
profits  that  they  have  made.- 

The  difficulty  of  making  peace  with  Germany,  as  at 
present  constituted,  Is  that  the  whole  world  feels  that 
peace  made  with  its  present  government  would  not  be 
lasting;  that  such  a  peace  would  mean  the  detachment  of 
some  of  the  Allies  from  the  present  world  alliance  against 
Germany;  preparation  by  Germany,  In  the  light  of  her 
needs  as  disclosed  by  this  war;  and  the  declaration  of  a 
new  war  in  which  there  would  be  no  battle  of  the  Marne 
to  turn  back  the  tide  of  German  world  conquest. 

For  a  long  time  before  this  war,  radicals  in  Great  Brit- 
ain pinned  a  great  faith  to  the  Socialist  party  of  Germany. 
How  little  that  faith  was  justified  appeared  In  July  and 
August  of  19 14  when  the  Socialist  party  tamely  voted 
credits  for  the  war;  a  war  declared  by  the  Emperor  O'n 
the  mere  statement  that  It  was  a  defensive  war;  declared 
because  It  was  alleged  that  certain  invasions  of.  German 
territory,  never  since  substantiated,  had  taken  place. 

The  Socialist  party  Is  divided.  It  is  a  great  pity  that 
the  world  cannot  deal  with  men  of  the  type  of  Scheide- 
mann,  who.  In  other  democracies,  v/ould  appear  so  con- 


LIBERALS  AND  REASONABLE  MEN    283 

servative  as  to  be  almost  reactionary.  But  Scheidemann 
and  his  friends,  while  they  have,  in  their  attempted  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Socialists  of  other  countries,  the  pres- 
ent protection  of  the  Imperial  Government,  will  have  no 
hand  in  dictating  terms  of  peace  so  long  as  that  govern- 
ment is  in  existence.  7'hey  arc  being  used  in  an  effort 
to  divide  the  Allies. 

As  President  Wilson  said  in  his  message  to  Russia  of 
May  twenty-sixth,  1917:  "The  war  has  begun  to  go 
against  Germany,  and,  in  their  desperate  desire  to  escape 
the  inevitable  ultimate  defeat,  those  who  are  in  authority 
in  Germany  are  using  every  posisble  instrumentality,  are 
making  use  even  of  the  influence  of  the  groups  and  par- 
ties among  their  own  subjects  to  whom  they  have  never 
been  just  or  fair  or  even  tolerant  to  promote  a  propa- 
ganda on  both  sides  of  the  sea  which  will  preserve  for 
them  their  influence  at  home  and  their  power  abroad,  to 
the  undoing  of  the  very  men  they  are  using." 

There  is  an  impression  abroad  that  the  Social  Demo- 
cratic party  of  Germany,  usually  known  abroad  as  the  So- 
cialist party,  partakes  of  at  least  some  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  a  great  liberal  party.  This  is  far  from  being  the 
case.  By  their  acts,  if  not  by  their  express  declarations, 
they  have  shown  themselves  as  opposed  to  the  monarch- 
ical form  of  government  and  their  leaders  are  charged 
with  having  declared  themselves  openly  in  favour  of  free 
love  and  against  religion.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
recognises  in  Social  Democracy  its  greatest  enemy,  and 
has  made  great  efforts  to  counteract  its  advance  by  fos- 
tering a  sort  of  Roman  Catholic  trades-union  for  a  re- 
ligious body  of  Socialists.  The  Social  Democrat  in  Ger- 
many is  almost  an  outcast.  Although  one-third  of  the 
members  of  the  Reichstag  belong  to  this  party,  its  mem- 
bers are  never  called  to  hold  office  in  the  government;  and 
the  attitude  of  the  whole  of  the  governing  class,  of  all 
the  professors,  school-teachers,  priests  of  both  Protestant 


284        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  Roman  Catholic  religions  of  the  prosperous  middle 
classes,  is  that  of  violent  opposition  to  the  doctrines  of  So- 
cial Democracy.  The  world  must  entertain  no  illusion 
that  the  Social  Democratic  leaders  speak  for  Germany. 

If  the  industrial  populations  had  their  fair  share  of  rep- 
resentation in  the  Reichstag  they  might  perhaps  even  con- 
trol that  body.  But,  as  I  have  time  and  again  reiterated, 
the  Reichstag  has  only  the  power  of  public  opinion;  and 
the  Germany  of  to-day  is  ruled  by  officials  appointed  from 
above  downwards.  All  of  these  officials  in  Germany 
must  be  added  to  the  other  classes  that  I  have  mentioned. 
There  are  more  officials  there  than  in  any  other  country 
in  the  world.  As  they  owe  their  very  existence  to  the 
government,  they  must  not  only  serve  that  government, 
but  also  make  the  enemies  of  that  government  their  own. 
Therefore,  they  and  the  circle  of  their  connections  are 
opponents  of  the  Social  Democrats. 

All  this  shows  how  difficult  it  is  at  present  for  the  men 
of  reasonable  and  liberal  views,  who  do  not  wish  to  de- 
clare themselves  against  both  rehgion  and  morality,  to 
find  a  political  refuge. 

The  Chancellor,  himself  a  liberal  at  heart,  as  I  have 
said,  has  declared  that  there  must  be  changes  in  Ger- 
many. It  is  perhaps  within  the  bounds  of  probability 
that  a  great  new  liberal  party  will  be  formed  to  which  I 
have  referred,  composed  of  the  more  conservative  So- 
cial Democrats,  of  the  remains  of  the  National  Liberal 
and  Progressive  parties  and  of  the  more  liberal  of  the 
Conservatives.  The  important  question  is  then  whether 
the  Roman  Catholic  party  or  Centrum  will  voluntarily 
dissolve  and  its  members  cease  to  seek  election  merely  as 
representatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

It  is  perhaps  too  much  to  expect  that  the  Centrum 
party,  as  a  whole  and  as  at  present  constituted,  will  de- 
clare for  liberalism  and  parliamentary  government  and 
for  a  fair  redistricting  of  the  divisions  in  Germany  whick 


LIBERALS  AND  REASONABLE  MEN     285 

elect  members  to  the  Reichstag,  but  there  are  many  wise 
and  far-seeing  men  in  this  party;  and  its  leaders,  Dr. 
Spahn  and  Erzberger,  are  fearless  and  able  men. 

For  some  years  a  movement  has  been  going  on  in  the 
Centrum  party  looking  to  this  end.  Many  members  be- 
lieved that  the  time  had  come  when  it  was  no  longer  nec- 
essary that  the  Roman  Catholics  in  order  to  safeguard 
their  religious  liberties  continue  the  political  existence  of 
the  Centrum,  and  attempts  were  made  to  bring  about 
this  change.  It  was  decided  adversely,  however,  by  the 
Roman  Catholics.  But  the  question  is  not  dead.  Vol- 
untary dissolution  of  the  Centrum  as  a  Roman  Catholic 
party  would  immediately  bring  about  a  creation  of  a  true 
liberal  party  to  which  all  Germans  could  belong  without 
a  loss  of  social  prestige,  without  becoming  declared  ene- 
mies of  the  monarchy  and  without  declaring  themselve;, 
against  religion  and  morality. 

At  the  Congress  which  will  meet  after  the  war  it  will 
be  easy  for  the  nations  of  the  world  to  deal  with  the  rep- 
resentatives of  a  liberal  Germany,  with  representatives 
of  a  government  still  monarchical  in  form,  but  possessed 
of  either  a  constitution  like  that  of  the  United  States  or 
ruled  by  a  parliamentary  government.  I  believe  that  the 
tendency  of  German  liberalism  is  towards  the  easiest 
transition, — that  of  making  the  Chancellor  and  his  min- 
isters responsible  to  the  Reichstag  and  bound  to  resign 
after  a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  by  that  body. 

At  the  time  of  the  Zabern  Affair,  Schcidemann  claimed 
that  the  resignation  of  the  Chancellor  must  logically  fol- 
low a  vote  of  want  of  confidence;  and  it  was  von  Beth- 
mann-Hollweg  who  refused  to  resign,  saying  that  he  was 
responsible  to  the  Emperor  alone.  It  requires  no  violent 
change  to  bring  about  this  establishment  of  parliamen- 
tary government,  and,  if  the  members  of  the  Reichstag 
should  be  elected  from  districts  fairly  constituted,  the 
world  would  then  be  dealing  with  a  liberalised  Germany, 


286        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

and  a  Germany  which  has  become  liberalised  without  any 
violent  change  in  the  form  of  its  government. 

Of  course,  coincident  with  this  parliamentary  reform, 
the  vicious  circle  system  of  voting  in  Prussia  must  end. 

This  change  to  a  government  by  a  responsible  ministry 
can  be  accomplished  under  the  constitution  of  the  German 
Empire  by  a  mere  majority  vote  of  the  Reichstag  and  a 
vote  in  the  Bundesrat,  in  which  less  than  fourteen  votes 
are  against  the  proposed  change  in  the  constitution.  This 
means  that  the  consent  of  the  Emperor  as  Prussian  King 
must  be  obtained,  and  that  of  a  number  of  the  rulers  of 
the  German  States. 

In  the  reasonable  liberalisation  of  Germany,  if  it 
comes,  Theodor  Wolff  and  his  father-in-law,  Mosse,  will 
play  leading  parts.  The  great  newspaper,  the  Tage- 
hlatt,  which  Mosse  owns  and  Wolff  edits,  has  through- 
out the  war  been  a  beacon  light  at  once  of  reason  and  of 
patriotism.  And  other  great  newspapers  will  talce  the 
same  enlightened  course. 

I  am  truly  sorry  for  Georg  Bernhard,  the  talented  ed- 
itor of  the  Vossichc  Zeitung,  who,  a  Liberal  and  a  Jew, 
wears  the  livery  of  Junkerdom, — I  am  sure  to  his  great 
distaste. 

After  I  left  Germany  the  Voss'iche  Zeitung  made  the 
most  ridiculous  charges  against  me,  such  as  that  I  issued 
American  passports  to  British  subjects.  The  newspaper 
might  as  well  have  solemnly  charged  that  I  sent  notes  to 
the  Foreign  Office  in  sealed  envelopes.  Having  charge 
of  British  interests,  I  could  not  issue  British  passports  to 
British  citizens  allowed  to  leave  Germany,  but,  accord- 
ing to  universal  custom  in  similar  cases  and  the  express 
consent  of  the  Imperial  I'^oreign  Office,  I  gave  these  re- 
turning British,  American  passports  superstamped  with 
the  words  "British  subject."     A  mare's  nest,  truly! 

The  fall  of  von  Bethmann-HoUweg  was  a  triumph  of 
kitchen  intrigue  and  of  Junkerism.     I  believe  that  he  is 


LIBERALS  AND  REASONABLE  MEN     287 

a  liberal  at  heart,  that  it  was  against  his  best  judgment 
that  the  ruthless  submarine  war  was  resumed,  the  pledges 
of  the  Sussex  Note  broken  and  Germany  involved  in  war 
with  America.  If  he  had  resigned,  rather  than  consent  to 
the  resumption  of  U-boat  war,  he  would  have  stood  out 
as  a  great  Liberal  rallying  point  and  probably  have  re- 
turned to  a  more  real  power  than  he  ever  possessed.  But 
half  because  of  a  desire  to  retain  office,  half  because  of  a 
mistaken  loyalty  to  the  Emperor,  he  remained  in  office  at 
the  sacrifice  of  his  opinions;  and  when  he  laid  down  that 
office  no  title  of  Prince  or  even  of  Count  waited  him  as  a 
parting  gift.  In  his  retirement  he  will  read  the  lines  of 
Schiller — a  favourite  quotation  in  Germany — "Der 
Mohr  hat  seine  Schuldigkeit  gethan,  der  Mohr  kann 
gehen."  "The  Moor  has  done  his  work,  the  Moor  can 
go."  And  in  his  old  age  he  will  exclaim,  as  Shakespeare 
makes  the  great  Chancellor  of  Henry  the  Eighth  ex- 
claim, "Oh  Cromwell,  Cromwell!  Had'I  but  served  my 
God  with  half  the  zeal  I  served  my  King,  He  would  not, 
in  mine  age,  have  left  me  naked  to  mine  enemies."  But 
this  God  is  not  the  private  War  God  of  the  Prussians  with 
whom  they  believe  they  have  a  gentlemen's  working 
agreement,  but  the  God  of  Christianity,  of  humanity  and 
of  all  mankind. 

It  would  have  been  easier  for  Germany  to  make  peace 
with  von  Bethmann-Hollweg  at  the  helm.  The  whole 
world  knows  him  and  honours  him  for  his  honesty. 

Helffcrich  remained  as  \'ice-Chancellor  and  Minister 
of  the  Interior:  a  powerful,  and  agile  intellect, — a  man, 
I  am  sure,  opposed  to  militarism.  Reasonable  in  his 
views,  one  can  sit  at  the  council  table  with  him  and  ar- 
rive at  compromises  and  results,  but  his  intense  patri- 
otism and  surpassing  ability  make  him  an  opponent  to 
be  feared. 

Kiihlmann  has  the  Foreign  Office.  Far  more  wily  than 
Zimmermann,  he  will  continue  to  strive  to  embroil  us  with 


288        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Japan  and  IVIexico,  but  he  will  not  be  caught.  Second 
In  command  in  London,  he  reported  then  that  England 
would  enter  the  war.  The  rumours  scattered  broadcast, 
as  he  took  office,  to  the  effect  that  he  was  opposed  to 
ruthless  U-boat  war  were  but  evidences  of  a  more  skilful 
hand  in  a  campaign  to  predispose  the  world  in  his  favour 
and,  therefore,  to  assist  him  in  any  negotiations  he  might 
have  on  the  carpet.      Beware  of  the  wily  Kuhlmann ! 

Baiting  the  Chancellor  is  the  favourite  sport  of  German 
political  life.  No  sooner  does  the  Kaiser  name  a  Chan- 
cellor than  hundreds  of  little  politicians,  Reichstag  mem- 
bers, editors,  reporters  and  female  Intriguers  try  to  drive 
him  from  office.  When  von  Bethmann-HoUweg  showed 
an  Inclination  towards  Liberalism,  and  advocated  a  juster 
electoral  syctem  for  Prussia,  the  Junkers,  the  military  and 
the  upholders  of  the  caste  system  joined  their  forces  to 
those  of  the  usual  intriguers;  and  it  was  only  a  question  of 
time  until  the  Chancellor's  official  head  fell  In  the  basket. 

His  successor  is  a  Prussian  bureaucrat.  No  further 
description  is  necessary. 

Of  course  no  nation  will  permit  itself  to  be  reformed 
from  without.  The  position  of  the  world  in  arms  with 
reference  to  Germany  is  simply  this.  It  is  Impossible  to 
make  peace  with  Germany  as  at  present  constituted,  be- 
cause that  peace  will  be  but  a  truce,  a  short  breathing 
space  before  the  German  military  autocrats  again  send 
the  sons  of  Germany  to  death  In  the  trenches  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  System  and  the  personal  glory  and  ad- 
vantage of  stuffy  old  generals  and  prancing  princes. 

The  world  does  not  believe  that  a  free  Germany  will 
needlessly  make  war,  believe  In  war  for  war's  sake  or 
take  up  the  profession  of  arms  as  a  national  Industry. 

The  choice  lies  with  the  German  people.  And  how 
admirably  has  our  great  President  shown  that  people  that 
we  war  not  with  them  but  with  the  autocracy  which  has 
led  them  into  the  shambles  of  dishonour. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  GERMAN  PEOPLK  IN  WAR 

WITH  the  declaration  of  war  the  ultimate  power 
in  Germany  was  transferred  from  the  civil  to 
the  military  authorities. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  Friday,  and  im- 
mediately after  the  declaration  of  a  State  of  War,  the 
Guard  of  the  Grenadier  Regiment  Kaiser  Alexander,  un- 
der the  command  of  a  Lieutenant  with  four  drummers, 
took  its  place  before  the  monument  of  PVederick  the 
Great  in  the  middle  of  the  Unter  den  Linden.  The 
drummers  sounded  a  ruffle  on  their  drums  and  the  Lieu- 
tenant read  an  order  beginning  with  the  words  "By  all 
highest  order:  A  State  of  War  is  proclaimed  in  Berlin 
and  in  the  Province  of  Brandenburg."  This  order  was 
signed  by  General  von  Kessel  as  Over-Commander  of  the 
Mark  of  Brandenburg;  and  stated  that  the  complete 
power  was  transferred  to  him;  that  the  civil  officials 
might  remain  in  office,  but  must  obey  the  orders  and 
regulations  of  the  Over-Commander;  that  house-search- 
Ings  and  arrests  bv  officials  thereto  empowered  could  take 
place  at  any  time ;  that  strangers  who  could  not  show  good 
reason  for  remaining  in  Berlin,  had  twenty-four  hours  in 
which  to  leave;  that  the  sale  of  weapons,  powder  and 
explosives  to  civilians  was  forbidden;  and  that  ci\ilians 
were  forbidden  to  carry  weapons  without  permission  of 
the  proper  authorities. 

The  same  transfer  of  authority  took  place  in  each  army 
corps — Bczirk,  or  province  or  district  in  Germany;  and 
in  each  army  corps  district  or  province  the  commanding 

289 


290        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

general  took  over  the  ultimate  power.  In  Berlin  It  was 
necessary  to  create  a  new  officer,  the  Over-Commander  of 
the  Mark,  because  two  army  corps,  the  third  and  the 
army  corps  of  the  guards,  had  their  headquarters  In  Ber- 
lin. These  army  corps  commanders  were  not  at  all  bash- 
ful about  the  use  of  the  power  thus  transferred  to  them. 
Some  of  them  even  prescribed  the  length  of  the  dresses 
to  be  worn  by  the  women;  and  many  women,  having  fol- 
lowed the  German  sport  custom  of  wearing  knicker- 
bockers in  the  winter  sports  resorts  of  Garmisch-Parten- 
klrchen,  the  Generalkommando,  or  Headquarters  for 
Bavaria  issued  in  January,  19 17,  the  following  order: 
"The  appearance  of  many  women  in  Garmlsch-Parten- 
klrchen  has  excited  lively  anger  and  indignation  in  the 
population  there.  This  bitterness  is  directed  particu- 
larly against  certain  women,  frequently  of  ripe  age,  who 
do  not  engage  in  sports,  but  nevertheless  show  themselves 
In  public  continually  clad  In  knickerbockers.  It  has  even 
happened  that  women  so  dressed  have  visited  churches 
during  the  service.  Such  behaviour  Is  a  cruelty  to  the 
earnest  minds  of  the  mountain  population  and,  in  con- 
sequence, there  are  often  many  disagreeable  occurrences 
in  the  streets.  Officials,  priests  and  private  citizens  have 
turned  to  the  Generalkommando  with  the  request  for 
help;  and  the  Generalkommando  has,  therefore,  em- 
powered the  district  officials  in  Garmisch-Partenklrchen 
to  take  energetic  measures  against  this  misconduct;  If 
necessary  with  the  aid  of  the  police." 

I  spent  two  days  at  Garmisch-Partenklrchen  In  Febru- 
ary, 19 1 6.  Some  of  the  German  girls  looked  very  well 
in  their  "knickers,"  but  I  agree  with  the  Generalkom- 
mando that  the  appearance  of  some  of  the  older  women 
was  "cruelty"  not  only  to  the  "earnest  mountain  popula- 
tion" but  to  any  observer. 

These  corps  commanders  are  apparently  responsible 
direct  to  the  Emperor;  and  therefore  much  of  the  diffi- 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       291 

culty  that  I  had  concerning  the  treatment  of  prisoners 
was  due  to  this  system,  as  each  corps  commander  con- 
sidered himself  supreme  in  his  own  district  not  only  over 
the  civil  and  military  population  but  over  the  prison 
camps  within  his  jurisdiction. 

On  the  fourth  of  August,  19 14,  a  number  of  laws  were 
passed,  which  had  been  evidently  prepared  long  in  ad- 
vance, making  various  changes  made  necessary  by  war, 
such  as  alteration  of  the  Coinage  Law,  the  Bank  Law, 
and  the  Law  of  Maximum  Prices.  Laws  as  to  the  high 
prices  were  made  from  time  to  time.  For  instance,  the 
law  of  the  twenty-eighth  of  October,  19 14,  provided  in 
detail  the  maximum  prices  for  rye  in  different  parts  of 
Germany.  The  maximum  price  at  wholesale  per  Ger- 
man ton  of  native  rye  must  not  exceed  220  marks  in 
Berlin,  236  marks  in  Cologne,  209  marks  in  Koenigsberg, 
228  marks  in  Hamburg,  235  marks  in  Frankfort  ^/M. 

The  maximum  price  for  the  German  ton  of  native 
wheat  was  set  at  forty  marks  per  ton  higher  than  the 
above  rates  for  rye.  This  maximum  price  was  made 
with  reference  to  deliveries  without  sacks  and  for  cash 
payments. 

The  law  as  to  the  maximum  prices  applied  to  all  ob- 
jects of  daily  necessity,  not  only  to  food  and  fodder  but 
to  oil,  coal  and  wood.  Of  course,  these  maximum  prices 
were  changed  from  time  to  time,  but  I  think  I  can  safely 
state  that  at  no  time  in  the  war,  while  I  was  in  Berlin, 
were  the  simple  foods  more  expensive  than  in  New  York. 

The  so-called  "war  bread,"  the  staple  food  of  the 
population,  which  was  made  soon  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  war,  was  composed  partially  of  rye  and 
potato  flour.  It  was  not  at  all  unpalatable,  especially 
when  toasted;  and  when  it  was  seen  that  the  war  would 
not  be  as  short  as  the  Germans  had  expected,  tlie  bread 
cards  were  issued.  That  is,  every  Monday  morning  each 
person  was  given  a  card  which  had  annexed  to  it  a  num- 


292        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

ber  of  little  perforated  sections  about  the  size  of  a 
quarter  of  a  postage  stamp,  each  marked  with  twenty- 
five,  fifty  or  one  hundred.  The  total  of  these  figures 
constituted  the  allowance  of  each  person  in  grammes  per 
week.  The  person  desiring  to  buy  bread  either  at  a 
baker's  or  in  a  restaurant  must  turn  in  these  little  stamped 
sections  for  an  amount  equivalent  to  the  weight  of  bread 
purchased.  Each  baker  was  given  a  certain  amount  of 
meal  at  the  commencement  of  each  week,  and  he  had 
to  account  for  this  meal  at  the  end  of  the  week  by  turn- 
ing in  its  equivalent  in  bread  cards. 

As  food  became  scarce,  the  card  system  was  applied 
to  meat,  potatoes,  milk,  sugar,  butter  and  soap.  Green 
vegetables  and  fruits  were  exempt  from  the  card  system, 
as  were  for  a  long  time  chickens,  ducks,  geese,  turkeys 
and  game.  Because  of  these  exemptions  the  rich  usually 
managed  to  live  well,  although  the  price  of  a  goose  rose 
to  ridiculous  heights.  There  was,  of  course,  much  under- 
ground traffic  in  cards  and  sales  of  illicit  or  smuggled 
butter,  etc.  The  police  were  very  stern  in  their  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  and  the  manager  of  one  of  the  largest 
hotels  in  Berlin  was  taken  to  prison  because  he  had  made 
the  servants  give  him  their  allowance  of  butter,  which 
he  in  turn  sold  to  the  rich  guests  of  the  hotel. 

No  one  over  six  years  of  age  at  the  time  I  left  could 
get  milk  without  a  doctor's  certificate.  One  result  of 
this  was  that  the  children  of  the  poor  were  surer  of  ob- 
taining milk  than  before  the  war,  as  the  women  of  the 
Frauendienst  and  social  workers  saw  to  it  that  each  child 
had  its  share. 

The  third  winter  of  the  war.,  owing  to  a  breakdown  of 
means  of  transportation  and  want  of  laborers,  coal  be- 
came very  scarce.  All  public  places,  such  as  theatres, 
picture  galleries,  museums,  and  cinematograph  shows, 
were  closed  in  Munich  for  want  of  coal.  In  Berlin  the 
suffering  was  not  as  great  but  even  the  elephants  from 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR        293 

Hagenbeck's  Show  were  pressed  into  service  to  draw  the 
coal  carts  from  the  railway  stations. 

Light  was  economized.  All  the  apartment  houses 
(and  all  Berlin  lives  in  apartment  houses)  were  closed  at 
nine  o'clock.  Stores  were  forbidden  to  illuminate  their 
show  windows  and  all  theatres  were  closed  at  ten.  Only 
every  other  street  electric  light  was  lit;  of  the  three  lights 
in  each  lamp,  only  one. 

As  more  and  more  men  were  called  to  the  front, 
women  were  eniployed  in  unusual  work.  The  new  under- 
ground road  in  Berlin  is  being  built  largely  by  woman 
labour.  This  is  not  so  difficult  a  matter  in  Berlin  as  in 
New  York,  because  Berlin  is  built  upon  a  bed  of  sand  and 
the  difficulties  of  rock  excavation  do  not  exist.  Women 
are  employed  on  the  railroads,  working  with  pickaxes 
on  the  road-bed.  Women  drive  the  great  yellow  post 
carts  of  Berlin.  There  were  women  guards  on  the 
underground  road,  women  conductors  on  the  tramways 
and  women  even  become  motor  men  on  the  tramcars. 
Banks,  insurance  companies  and  other  large  business  in- 
stitutions were  filled  with  women  workers  who  invaded 
the  sacred  precincts  of  many  military  and  governmental 
offices. 

A  curious  development  of  the  hate  of  all  things  foreign 
was  the  hunt  led  by  the  Police  President  of  Berlin,  von 
Jagow  (a  cousin  of  the  Foreign  Minister),  for  foreign 
words.  Von  Jagow  and  his  fellow  cranks  decided  that 
all  words  of  foreign  origin  must  be  expunged  from  the 
German  language.  The  title  of  the  Hotel  Bristol  on  the 
Unter  den  Linden  disappeared.  The  Hotel  Westmin- 
ster on  the  same  street  became  Lindenhof.  There  is  a 
large  hotel  called  "The  Cumberland,"  with  a  pastry  de- 
partment over  which  there  was  a  sign,  the  French  word, 
Confissi-ric.  The  management  was  compelled  to  take 
this  sign  down,  but  the  hotel  was  allowed  to  retain  the 
name  of  Cumberland,  because  the   father-in-law  of  the 


294        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

Kaiser's  only  daughter  is  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.     The 
word  "chauffeur"  was  eliminated,  and  there  were  many 
discussions  as  to  what  should  be  substituted.      Many  de- 
clared for  Kraftwagenfuhrer  or  "power  wagon  driver." 
But  finally  the  word  was  Germanised  as  "Schauffoer." 
Prussians  took  down  the  sign,  Confektion,  but  the  climax 
came   when   the   General   in   command   of   the   town    of 
Breslau  wrote  a  confectioner  telling  him  to  stop  the  use 
of  the  word  "bonbon"  in  selling  his  candy.     The  con- 
fectioner, with  a  sense  of  humour  and  a  nerve  unusual 
in  Germany,  wrote  back  to  the  General  that  he  would 
gladly  discontinue  the  use  of  the  word  "bonbon'  when 
the  General  ceased  to  call  himself  "General,"  and  called 
the  attention  of  this  high  military  authority  to  the  fact 
that  "General"  was  as  much  a  French  word  as  "bonbon.'* 
Unusual  means  were  adopted  in  order  to  get  all  the 
gold  coins  in  the  country  into  the  Imperial  Bank.     There 
were  signs  in  every  surface  and  underground  car  which 
read,    "Whoever   keeps   back    a    gold    coin    injures    the 
P'atherland."     And  if  a  soldier  presented  to  his  superiors 
a  twenty  mark  gold  piece,  he  received  in  return  twenty 
marks  in  paper  money  and  two  days  leave  of  absence. 
In  like  manner  a  school  boy  who  turned  in  ten  marks  in 
gold  received  ten  marks  in  paper  and  was  given  a  half 
holiday.      Cinematograph  shows  gave  these  patrons  who 
paid  in  gold  an  extra  ticket,  good  for  another  day.     An 
American  woman  residing  at  Berlin  was  awakened  one 
morning  at  eight  o'clock  by  two  police  detectives  who 
told  her  that  they  had  heard  that  she  had  some  gold 
coins  in  her  possession,  and  that  if  she  did  not  turn  them 
in  for  paper  money  they  would  wreck  her  apartment  in 
their  search  for  them.   She,  therefore,  gave  them  the  gold 
which  I  afterwards  succeeded  in  getting  the  German  Gov- 
ernment to   return   to  her.     Later,  the  export  of  gold 
was  forbidden,   and  even  travellers  arriving  with  gold 
were  compelled  to  give  it  v.v>  in  return  for  paper  money. 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       295 

While,  of  course,  I  cannot  ascertain  the  exact  amounts, 
I  found,  nevertheless,  that  great  quantities  of  food  and 
other  supplies  came  into  Germany  from  Holland  and 
the  Scandinavian  countries,  particularly  from  Sweden. 
Now  that  we  are  in  the  war  we  should  take  strong 
measures  and  cut  off  exports  to  these  countries  which 
export  food,  raw  material,  etc.  to  Germany.  Sweden 
is  particularly  active  in  this  traffic,  but  I  understand  that 
sulphur  pyrites  are  sent  from  Norway,  and  sulphuric 
acid  made  therefrom  is  an  absolute  essential  to  the 
manufacture  of  munitions  of  war. 

Potash,  which  is  found  as  a  mineral  only  in  Germany 
and  Austria,  was  used  in  exchange  of  commodities  with 
Sweden  and  in  this  way  such  copper,  lard,  etc.,  reached 
Germany. 

Early  in  the  summer  of  19 15,  the  first  demonstration 
took  place  in  Berlin.  About  five  hundred  women  col- 
lected in  front  of  the  Reichstag  building.  They  were 
promptly  suppressed  by  the  police  and  no  newspaper 
printed  an  account  of  the  occurrence.  These  women 
were  rather  vague  in  their  demands.  They  called  von 
Buelow  an  old  fat-head  for  his  failure  in  Italy  and  com- 
plained that  the  whipped  cream  was  not  so  good  as  before 
the  war.  There  was  some  talk  of  high  prices  for  food, 
and  the  women  all  said  that  they  wanted  their  men  back 
from  the  trenches. 

Early  summer  brought  also  a  number  of  cranks  to 
Berlin.  Miss  Jane  Addams  and  her  fellow  suffragists, 
after  holding  a  convention  in  Holland,  moved  on  Berlin. 
I  succeeded  in  getting  both  the  Chancellor  and  von 
Jagow  to  consent  to  receive  them,  a  meeting  to  which 
they  looked  forward  with  unconcealed,  perturbation. 
However,  one  of  them  seems  to  have  impressed  Miss 
Addams,  for,  as  I  write  this,  I  read  in  the  papers  that 


296        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

she  is  complaining  that  we  should  not  have  gone  to  war 
because  we  thereby  risk  hurting  somebody's  feelings. 

On  July  twenty-seventh,  191 5,  I  reported  that  I  had 
learned  that  the  Germans  were  picking  out  the  Revolu- 
tionists and  Liberals  from  the  many  Russian  prisoners  of 
war,  furnishing  them  with  money  and  false  passports 
and  papers,  and  sending  them  back  to  Russia  to  stir  up 
a  revolution. 

A  German  friend  of  mine  told  me  that  a  friend  of 
his  who  manufactured  field  glasses  had  received  a  large 
order  from  the  Bulgarian  Government.  This  manufac- 
turer went  to  the  Foreign  Office  and  asked  whether  he 
should  deliver  the  goods.  He  was  told  not  only  to 
dehver  them  but  to  do  It  as  quickly  as  possible.  By 
learning  of  this  I  was  able  to  predict  long  in  advance  the 
entry  of  Bulgaria  on  the  side  of  the  Central  powers. 

Even  a  year  after  the  commencement  of  the  war  there 
were  reasonable  people  in  Germany.  I  met  Ballin,  head 
of  the  great  Hamburg  American  Line,  on  August  ninth. 
I  said  to  him,  "When  are  you  going  to  stop  this  crazy 
fighting?"  The  next  day  Ballin  called  on  me  and  said 
that  the  sensible  people  of  Germany  wanted  peace  and 
that  without  annexation.  He  told  me  that  every  one 
was  afraid  to  talk  peace,  that  each  country  thought  it  a 
sign  of  weakness,  and  that  he  had  advised  the  Chancellor 
to  put  a  statement  in  an  official  paper  to  say  that  Ger- 
many fought  only  to  defend  herself  and  was  ready  to 
make  an  honourable  peace.  He  told  me  that  the  Em- 
peror at  that  time  was  against  the  annexation  of  Belgium. 

In  calculating  the  great  war  debt  built  up  by  Germany, 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  German  municipalities  and 
other   political   districts   have   incurred   large   debts   for 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       297 

war  purposes,  such  as  extra  relief  given  to  the  wives  and 
children  of  soldiers. 

In  November,  19 15,  there  were  food  disturbances  and 
a  serious  agitation  against  a  continuance  of  the  war; 
and,  in  Leipzig,  a  Socialist  paper  was  suppressed. 

The  greatest  efforts  were  made  at  all  times  to  get  in 
gold;  and  some  time  before  I  left  Germany  an  advertise- 
ment was  published  in  the  newspapers  requesting  Ger- 
mans to  give  up  their  jewelry  for  the  Fatherland.  Many 
did  so:  among  them,  I  believe,  the  Empress  and  other 
royalties. 

In  December,  19 15,  a  prominent  banker  in  Berlin  said 
to  me  that  the  Germans  were  sick  of  the  war;  that  the 
Krupps  and  other  big  industries  were  making  great  sums 
of  money  and  were  prolonging  the  war  by  insisting  upon 
the  annexation  of  Belgium;  and  that  the  Junkers  were 
also  in  favour  of  the  continuance  of  the  war  because  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  getting  four  or  five  times  the 
money  for  their  products  while  their  work  was  being 
done  by  prisoners.  He  said  that  the  Kaujieiitc  (mer- 
chant middle  class)  will  have  to  pay  the  cost  of  the  war 
and  that  the  Junkers  will  not  be  taxed. 

In  December,  butter  became  very  scarce  and  the  women 
waiting  in  long  lines  before  the  shops  often  rushed  the 
shops.  In  this  month  many  copper  roofs  were  removed 
from  buildings  in  Berlin.  I  was  told  by  a  friend  in  the 
Foreign  Office  that  the  notorious  von  Rintelen  was  sent 
to  America  to  buy  up  the  entire  product  of  the  Dupont 
powder  factories,  and  that  he  exceeded  his  authority  if 
he  did  anything  else. 

In  December,  on  the  night  of  the  day  of  the  peace 
interpellation    in   the    Reichstag    a    call    was    issued    by 


298        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

placards  for  a  meeting  on  the  Unter  den  Linden,  I  went 
out  on  the  streets  during  the  afternoon  and  found  that 
the  police  had  so  carefully  divided  the  city  into  districts 
that  it  was  impossible  for  a  crowd  of  any  size  to  gather 
on  the  Unter  den  Linden.  There  was  quite  a  row  at 
the  session  in  the  Reichstag.  Scheidemann,  the  Socialist, 
made  a  speech  very  moderate  in  tone;  but  he  was  an- 
swered by  the  Chancellor  and  then  an  endeavour  was 
made  to  close  the  debate.  The  Socialists  made  such 
a  noise,  however,  that  the  majority  gave  way  and  another 
prominent  Socialist,  Landsberger,  was  allowed  to  speak 
for  the  Socialists.  He  also  made  a  reasonable  speech  in 
the  course  of  which  he  said  that  even  Socialists  would 
not  allow  Alsace-Lorraine  to  go  back  to  France.  He 
made  use  of  a  rather  good  phrase,  saying  that  the  "Dis- 
united States  of  Europe  were  making  war  to  make  a 
place  for  the  United  States  of  America." 

The  banks  sent  out  circulars  to  all  holders  of  safe 
deposit  boxes,  asking  them  to  disclose  the  contents.  This 
was  part  of  the  campaign  to  get  in  hoarded  gold. 

In  January,  19 16,  we  had  many  visitors.  S.  S. 
McClure,  Hermann  Bernstein,  Inez  Milholland  Boisse- 
vaini — all  of  the  Ford  Peace  Ship — appeared  in  Berlin. 
I  introduced  Mrs.  Boissevain  to  Zimmermann  who  ad- 
mired her  extremely. 

In  January,  19 16,  I  visited  Munich  and  from  there  a 
Bavarian  officer  prison  camp  and  the  prison  camp  for 
private  soldiers,  both  at  Ingolstadt.  I  also  conferred 
with  Archdeacon  Nies  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church 
who  carried  on  a  much  needed  work  in  visiting  the  prison 
camps  in  Bavaria. 

The  American  Colony  in  Munich  maintained  with  the 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       299 

help  of  friends  in  America,  a  Red  Cross  hospital  under 
the  able  charge  of  Dr.  Jung,  a  Washington  doctor,  and 
his  wife.  The  nursing  was  done  by  American  and  Ger- 
man girls.  The  American  Colony  at  Munich  also  fed  a 
number  of  school  children  ev^ery  day.  I  regret  to  say, 
however,  that  many  of  the  Americans  in  Munich  were 
loud  in  their  abuse  of  President  Wilson  and  their  native 
country. 

In  March,  19 16,  I  was  sounded  on  the  question  of 
Germany's  sending  an  unofficial  envoy,  like  Colonel 
House,  to  America  to  talk  informally  to  the  Presiuent 
and  prominent  people.  I  was  told  that  Solf  would  prob- 
ably be  named. 

In  19 16,  the  importation  of  many  articles  of  luxury 
into  Germany  was  forbidden.  This  move  was  naturally 
made  in  order  to  keep  money  in  the  country. 

A  Dane  who  had  a  quantity  of  manganese  in  Brazil 
sold  it  to  a  Philadelphia  firm  for  delivery  to  the  United 
States  Steel  Company.  The  German  Government  in 
some  way  learned  of  this  and  the  Dane  was  arrested  and 
put  in  jail.  His  Minister  had  great  difficulty  in  getting 
him  out. 

Liebknecht,  in  April  of  19 16,  made  matters  lively  at 
the  Reichstag  sessions.  During  the  Chancellor's  speech, 
Liebknecht  interrupted  him  and  said  that  the  Germans 
were  not  free;  next  he  denied  that  the  Germans  had  not 
wished  war;  and,  another  time,  he  called  attention  to  the 
attempts  of  the  Germans  to  induce  the  Mohammedan  and 
Irish  prisoners  of  war  to  desert  to  the  German  side. 
Liebknecht  finally  enraged  the  government  supporters  by 
calling  out  that  the  subscription  to  the  loan  was  a  swindle. 


300        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

After  the  Sussex  settlement  I  think  that  the  Germans 
wished  to  inaugurate  an  era  of  better  feeling  between 
Germany  and  the  United  States.  At  any  rate,  and  in 
answer  to  many  anonymous  attacks  made  against  me, 
the  North  German  Gazette,  the  official  newspaper,  pub- 
lished a  sort  of  certificate  from  the  government  to  the 
effect  that  I  was  a  good  boy  and  that  the  rumours  of  my 
bitter  hostility  to  Germany  were  unfounded. 

In  May,  191 6,  Wertheim,  head  of  the  great  depart- 
ment store  in  Berlin,  told  me  that  they  had  more  business 
than  in  peace  times. 

Early  in  June  I  had  two  long  talks  with  Prince  von 
Buelow.  He  speaks  English  well  and  is  suspected  by 
his  enemies  of  having  been  polishing  it  up  lately  in  order 
to  make  ready  for  possible  peace  conferences.  He  is  a 
man  of  a  more  active  brain  than  the  present  Chancellor, 
and  is  very  restless  and  anxious  in  some  way  to  break 
into  the  present  political  situation. 

In  June,  the  anonymous  attacks  on  von  Bethmann- 
Hollweg  by  pamphlet  and  otherwise,  incensed  him  to 
such  a  degree  that  he  made  an  open  answer  in  the  Reich- 
stag and  had  rather  the  best  of  the  situation.  Many 
anonymous  lies  and  rumours  were  flying  about  Berlin  at 
this  period,  and  even  Helfferich  had  to  deny  publicly  the 
anonymous  charges  that  he  had  been  anonymously  at- 
tacking the  Chancellor. 

In  July,  the  committee  called  the  National  Committee 
for  an  Honourable  Peace  was  formed  with  Prince  Wedel 
at  its  head.  Most  of  the  people  in  this  League  were 
friends  of  von  Bethmann-Hollweg,  and  one  of  the  three 
real  heads  was  the  editor  of  the  Frankfurter  Zcitung, 
the    Chancellor's    organ.      It    was    planned    that    fifty 


THP:  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       301 

speakers  from  this  committee  would  begin  to  speak  all 
over  Germany  on  August  first,  but  when  they  began  to 
speak  their  views  were  so  dissimilar  and  tiie  speeches  of 
most  of  them  so  ridiculous  that  the  movement  failed. 

In  August,  I  spent  two  Saturdays  and  Sundays  at 
Heringsdorf,  a  summer  resort  on  the  Baltic.  Before 
going  there  I  had  to  get  special  permission  from  the 
military  authorities  through  the  Foreign  Office,  as  for- 
eigners are  not  allowed  to  reside  on  the  coast  of  Ger- 
many. Regulations  that  all  windows  must  be  darkened 
at  night  and  no  lights  shown  which  could  be  seen  from 
the  sea  were  strictly  enforced  by  the  authorities. 

There  are  three  bathing  pl.aces.  In  each  of  them  the 
bath  houses,  etc.  surround  three  sides  of  a  square,  the 
sea  forming  the  fourth  side.  Bathing  is  allowed  only 
on  this  fourth  side  for  a  space  of  sixty-five  yards  long. 
One  of  these  bathing  places  is  for  women  and  one  for 
merl,  and  the  third  is  the  so-called  Familienbad  (family 
bath)  where  mixed  bathing  is  allowed.  German  women 
are  very  sensible  in  the  matter  of  their  bathing  costumes 
and  do  not  wear  the  extraordinary  creations  seen  in 
America.  They  wear  bathing  sandals  but  no  stockings, 
and,  as  most  of  them  have  fine  figures  but  dress  badly, 
they  appear  at  their  best  at  Heringsdorf.  Both  sea  and 
air  seemed  somewhat  cold  for  bathing.  On  account  of 
their  sensible  dress,  most  of  the  German  women  are  ex- 
pert swimmers. 

I  noticed  one  very  handsome  blonde  girl  who  sat  on 
her  bathing  mantle  exciting  the  admiration  of  the  beach 
because  of  her  fine  figure.  She  suddenly  dived  into  the 
pockets  of  the  bathing  mantle  and  produced  an  enormous 
black  bread  sandwich  which  she  proceeded  to  consume 
quite  unconsciously,  after  which  she  swam  out  to  sea. 
No  healthy  German  can  remain  long  separated  from 
food;  and   I  noticed  in  the  prospectus  of  the   different 


302        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

boarding-houses  at  Heringsdorf  that  patrons  were  offered, 
in  addition  to  about  four  meals  or  more  a  day,  an  extra 
sandwich  to  take  to  the  beach  to  be  consumed  during  the 
bathing  hour. 

There  is  a  beautiful  little  English  church  in  Berlin 
which  was  especially  favoured  by  the  Kaiser's  mother 
during  her  life.  Because  of  this,  the  Kaiser  permitted 
this  church  to  remain  open,  and  the  services  were  con- 
tinued during  the  war.  The  pastor.  Rev.  Mr.  Williams, 
obtained  permission  to  visit  the  British  prisoners,  and 
most  devotedly  travelled  from  one  prison  camp  to  an- 
other. Both  he  and  his  sister,  whose  charitable  work 
for  the  British  deserves  mention,  were  at  one  time  thrown 
into  jail,  charged  with  spying. 

I  at  first  attended  the  hybrid  American  church,  but 
when,  in  19 15,  I  think,  the  committee  hired  a  German 
woman  preacher  I  ceased  to  attend.  The  American,  the 
Reverend  Dr.  Grosser,  who  was  in  charge  when  I  arrived 
in  Berlin  left,  to  my  everlasting  regret,  in  the  spring 
before  the  war. 

Poor  Creelman,  the  celebrated  newspaper  correspon- 
dent, died  in  Berlin.  We  got  him  into  a  good  hospital 
and  some  one  from  the  Embassy  visited  him  every  day. 

The  funeral  services  were  conducted  in  the  American 
Church  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dickie,  long  a  resident  of  Ber- 
lin, whose  wife  had  presented  the  library  to  the  Ameri- 
can church.  The  Foreign  Office  sent  Herr  Horstmann 
as  its  representative. 

While  to-day  all  royalties  and  public  men  pose  for  the 
movies.  Czar  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  and  his  family  are 
probably  the  first  royalties  to  act  in  a  cinematograph.  In 
19 1 6,  there  was  released  in  Berlin  a  play  in  which  Czar 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       303 

Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria,  his  wife  and  two  daughters  by 
a  former  wife  appeared,  acting  as  Bulgarian  royalties  in 
the  development  of  the  plot. 

The  difference  between  von  Jagow  and  Zimmermann 
was  that  von  Jagow  had  lived  abroad,  had  met  people 
from  all  countries  and  knew  that  there  was  much  to  learn 
about  the  psychology  of  the  inhabitants  of  countries 
other  than  Germany.  Zimmermann,  in  the  early  part 
of  his  career,  had  been  consul  at  Shanghai;  and,  on  his 
way  back,  had  passed  through  America,  spending  two 
days  in  San  Francisco  and  three  in  New  York.  He 
seemed  to  think  that  this  transcontinental  trip  had  given 
him  an  intimate  knowledge  of  American  character.  Von 
Jagow,  on  the  other  hand,  almost  as  soon  as  war  began, 
spent  many  hours  talking  to  me  about  America  and  bor- 
rowed from  me  books  and  novels  on  that  country.  The 
novel  in  which  he  took  the  greatest  interest  was 
"Turmoil,"  by  Booth  Tarkington. 

I  think  there  must  have  been  a  period  quite  recently 
when  the  German  Government  tried  to  imbue  the  people 
with  a  greater  degree  of  frightfulness,  because  all  of  us 
in  visiting  camps,  etc.  observed  that  the  landstnrm  men 
or  older  soldiers  were  much  more  merciful  than  the 
younger  ones. 

Alexander  Cochran,  a  New  York  yachtsman,  volun- 
teered to  become  a  courier  between  the  London  Embassy 
and  ours.  On  his  first  trip,  although  he  had  two  pass- 
ports (his  regular  passport  and  a  special  courier's  pass- 
port), he  was  arrested  and  compelled  to  spend  the  night 
on  the  floor  of  the  guard-room  at  the  frontier  town  of 
Bentheim.  This  ended  his  aspirations  to  be  a  courier. 
He  is  now  a  commander  in  the  British  Navy,  having 
joined  it  with  his  large  steam  yacht,  the  IFarrior  some 


304        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

time  before  the  United  States  entered  the  war.  In  the 
piping  times  of  peace  he  had  been  the  guest  of  the  Em- 
peror at  Kiel  . 

A  British  prisoner,  who  escaped  from  Ruhleben,  was 
caught  in  a  curious  manner.  Prisoners  in  Ruhleben  re- 
ceived bread  from  outside,  as  I  have  explained  in  the 
chapter  on  prisoners  of  war.  This  bread  is  white,  some- 
thing unknown  in  Germany  since  the  war.  The  escaped 
prisoner  took  with  him  some  sandwiches  made  of  the 
bread  he  had  received  in  Ruhleben  and  most  incautiously 
ate  one  of  these  sandwiches  in  a  railway  station.  He  was 
immediately  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  Germans  anxious 
to  know  where  he  had  obtained  the  white  bread,  and,  in 
this  way,  was  detected  and  returned  to  prison. 

On  our  way  out  in  September,  19 16,  we  were  given 
a  large  dinner  in  Copenhagen  by  our  skilful  minister 
there,  the  Hon.  Maurice  F.  Egan,  who  has  devoted  many 
years  of  his  life  to  the  task  of  adding  the  three  beautiful 
Danish  islands  to  the  dominions  of  the  United  States. 
He  is  an  able  diplomat,  very  popular  in  Copenhagen, 
where  he  is  dean  of  the  diplomatic  corps.  At  this  dinner 
we  met  Countess  Hegerman-Lindencron,  whose  interest- 
ing books,  "The  Sunny  Side  of  Diplomatic  Life"  and 
"The  Courts  of  Memory,"  have  had  a  large  circulation 
in  America.  In  Copenhagen,  too,  both  on  the  way  out 
and  in,  we  lunched  with  Count  Rantzau-Brockedorff, 
then  German  Minister  there.  Count  Rantzau  is  skilful 
and  wily,  and  not  at  all  military  in  his  instincts;  and,  I 
should  say,  far  more  inclined  to  arrive  at  a  reasonable 
compromise  than  the  average  German  diplomat.  He  is 
a  charming  International,  with  none  of  the  rough  points 
and  aggressive  manners  which  characterise  so  many 
Prussian  officials. 


THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE  IN  WAR       305 

In  judging  the  German  people,  we  must  remember  that, 
while  they  have  made  great  progress  in  the  last  forty 
years  in  commerce  and  chemistry,  the  very  little  liberty 
they  possess  is  a  plant  of  very  recent  growth.  About 
the  year  1780,  Frederick  the  Great  having  sent  some 
money  to  restore  the  burned  city  of  Greiffenberg,  in 
Silesia,  the  magistrates  of  that  town  called  upon  him  to 
thank  him.  7'hey  kneeled  and  their  spokesman  said, 
"We  render  unto  your  Majesty  in  the  name  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Greiffenberg,  our  humble  thanks  for  the  most 
gracious  gift  which  your  Majesty  deigned  to  bestow  in 
aid  and  to  assist  us  in  rebuilding  our  homes. 

"The  gratitude  of  such  dust  as  we,  is,  as  we  are  aware, 
of  no  moment  or  value  to  you.  We  shall,  however,  im- 
plore God  to  grant  your  Majesty  His  divine  favours 
in  return  for  your  royal  bounty." 

Too  many  Germans,  to-day,  feel  that  they  are  mere 
dust  before  the  almost  countless  royalties  of  the  German 
Empire.  And  these  royalties  are  too  prone  to  feel  that 
the  kingdoms,  dukedoms  and  principalities  of  Germany 
and  their  inhabitants  are  their  private  property.  The 
Princes  of  Nassau  and  Anspach  and  Hesse,  at  the  time 
of  our  Revolution,  sold  their  unfortunate  subjects  to  the 
British  Government  to  be  exported  to  fight  the  Amer- 
icans. Our  American  soil  covers  the  bones  of  many  a 
poor  German  peasant  who  gave  up  his  life  in  a  war  from 
which  he  gained  nothing. 

When  Frederick  the  Great,  the  model  and  exemplar 
of  all  German  royalties,  died  in  1786,  he  disposed  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Prussia  in  his  will  as  if  it  had  been  one 
of  his  horses.  "I  bequeath  unto  my  dear  nephew,  Fred- 
erick William,  as  unto  my  immediate  successor,  the 
Kingdom  of  Prussia,  the  provinces,  towns,  palaces,  forts, 
fortresses,  all  ammunition  and  arsenals,  all  lands  mine 
by  inheritance  or  right  of  conquest,  the   crown  jewels, 


3o6        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

gold  and  silver  service  of  plate  in  Berlin,  country  houses, 
collections  of  coins,  picture  galleries,  gardens,  and  so 
forth."  Contrast  this  will  with  the  utterances  of  Wash- 
ington and  Hamilton  made  at  the  same  time ! 

In  the  Grand  Duchies  of  Mecklenburg,  serfdom  was 
not  abolished  until  1819. 

The  spies  and  the  influencers  of  American  correspon- 
dents made  their  headquarters  at  a  large  Berlin  hotel. 
A  sketch  of  their  activities  is  given  by  de  Beaufort  in  his 
book,  "Behind  the  German  Veil." 

Among  the  American  correspondents  In  Berlin  during 
the  war  great  credit  should  be  given  to  Carl  W.  Ackerman 
and  Seymour  B.  Conger,  correspondents  of  the  United 
and  Associated  Presses  respectively,  who  at  all  times  and 
in  spite  of  their  surroundings  and  in  the  face  of  real 
difficulties  preserved  their  Americanism  unimpaired  and 
refused  to  succumb  to  the  alluring  temptations  held  out 
to  them.  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  the  other  corre- 
spondents were  not  loyal,  but  the  pro-Germanism  of 
many  of  them  unfortunately  gave  the  Imperial  Foreign 
Office  and  the  great  general  staff  a  wrong  impression  of 
Americans.  It  is  the  splendid  patriotism  under  fire  of 
Ackerman  and  Conger  that  deserves  special  mention. 


CHAPTER  XX 

LAST 

I  WAS  credited  by  the  Germans  with  havina:  hood- 
winked and  jollied  the  Foreign  Office  and  the  Gov- 
ernment into  refraining  for  two  years  from  using  illegally 
their  most  effective  weapon. 

This,  of  course,  is  not  so.  I  always  told  the  Foreign 
Office  the  plain  simple  truth  and  the  event  showed  that  I 
correctly  predicted  the  attitude  of  America. 

Our  American  national  game,  poker,  has  given  us 
abroad  an  unfair  reputation.  We  are  always  supposed 
to  be  bluffing.  A  book  was  published  in  Germany  about 
the  President  called,  "President  Bluff." 

I  only  regret  that  those  high  in  authority  in  Germany 
should  have  preferred  to  listen  to  pro-German  correspon- 
dents who  posed  as  amateur  super-Ambassadors  rather 
than  to  the  authorised  representatives  of  America.  I 
left  Germany  with  a  clear  conscience  and  the  knowledge 
that  I  had  done  everything  possible  to  keep  the  peace. 

An  Ambassador,  of  course,  does  not  determine  the 
policy  of  his  own  country.  One  of  his  principal  duties, 
if  not  the  principal  one,  is  to  keep  his  own  country  in- 
formed— to  know  beforehand  what  the  country  to  which 
he  is  accredited  will  do,  and  I  think  that  I  managed  to 
give  the  State  Department  advance  information  of  the 
moves  of  the  rulers  of  Germany. 

I  had  the  support  of  a  loyal  and  devoted  staff  of  com- 
petent secretaries  and  assistants,  and  both  Secretaries 
Bryan  and  Lansing  were  most  kind  in  the  backing  given 
by  their  very  ably  organised  department. 

307 


3o8        MY  FOUR  YEARS  IN  GERMANY 

I  sent  Secretary  Lansing  a  confidential  letter  every 
week  and,  of  course,  received  most  valuable  hints  from 
him.  Secretary  Lansing  was  very  successful  in  his  tact- 
ful handling  of  the  American  Ambassadors  abroad  and 
in  getting  them  to  work  together  as  cheerful  members  of 
the  same  team. 

When  I  returned  to  America,  after  living  for  two  and 
a  half  years  In  the  centre  of  this  world  calamity,  every- 
thing seemed  petty  and  small.  I  was  surprised  that 
people  could  still  seek  little  advantages,  still  be  actuated 
by  little  jealousies  and  revenges.  Freed  from  the  round 
of  daily  work  I  felt  for  the  first  time  the  utter  horror 
and  uselessness  of  all  the  misery  these  Prussian  military 
autocrats  had  brought  upon  the  world;  and  what  a 
reckoning  there  will  be  In  Germany  some  day  when  the 
plain  people  realise  the  truth,  when  they  learn  what  base 
motives  actuated  their  rulers  In  condemning  a  whole  gen- 
eration of  the  earth  to  war  and  death! 

Is  It  not  a  shame  that  the  world  should  have  been  so 
disturbed;  that  peaceful  men  are  compelled  to  lie  out 
in  the  mud  and  filth  in  the  depth  of  raw  winter,  shot  at 
and  stormed  at  and  shelled,  waiting  for  a  chance  to  mur- 
der some  other  inoffensive  fellow  creature?  Why  must 
the  people  in  old  Poland  die  of  hunger,  not  finding  dogs 
enough  to  eat  In  the  streets  of  Lemberg?  The  long 
lines  of  broken  peasants  in  Serbia  and  In  Roumania;  the 
population  of  Belgium  and  Northern  France  torn  from 
their  homes  to  work  as  slaves  for  the  Germans;  the  poor 
prisoners  of  war  starving-  In  their  huts  or  working  in 
factories  and  mines;  the  cries  of  the  old  and^W  children, 
wounded  by  bombs  from  Zeppelins;  the  wails  of  the 
mothers  for  their  sons;  the  very  rustling  of  the  air  as 
the  souls  of  the  ten  million  dead  sweep  to  another  world, 
— why  must  all  these  horrors  come  upon  a  fair  green 
«arth,  where  we  believed  that  love  and  help  and  friend- 


LAST  309 

ship,  genius  and  science  and  commerce,  religion  and  civili- 
sation, once  ruled? 

It  is  because  in  the  dark,  cold  Northern  plains  of  Ger- 
many there  exists  an  autocracy,  deceiving  a  great  people, 
poisoning  their  minds  from  one  generation  to  another 
and  preaching  the  virtue  and  necessity  of  war;  and  until 
that  autocracy  is  either  wiped  out  or  made  powerless, 
tlicre  can  be  no  peace  on  earth. 

The  golden  dream  of  conquest  was  almost  accom- 
plished. A  little  more  advance,  a  few  more  wagon  loads 
of  ammunition,  and  there  would  have  been  no  battle  of 
the  Marne,  no  Joffre,  a  modern  Martel,  to  hammer  back 
the  invading  hordes  of  barbarism. 

I  have  always  stated  that  Germany  is  possessed  yet  of 
immense  military  power;  and,  to  win,  the  nations  opposed 
to  Germany  must  learn  to  think  in  a  military  way.  The 
mere  entrance,  even  of  a  great  nation  like  our  own,  into 
the  war,  means  nothing  in  a  military  way  unless  backed 
by  military  power. 

And  there  must  be  no  German  peace.  The  old  regime, 
left  in  control  of  Germany,  of  Bulgaria,  of  Turkey, 
would  only  seek  a  favourable  moment  to  renew  the  war, 
to  strive  again  for  the  mastery  of  the  world. 

Fortunately  America  bars  the  way, — America  led  by 
a  fighting  President  who  will  allow  no  compromise  with 
brutal  autocracy. 


THE  END 


FACSIMILE   REPRODUCTION  OF 
DOCUMENTS 


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THIS  AND  THE  FOLLOWING  FIVE  PAGES  ARE  A  FAC-SIMILE 
KKI'RODUCTION  OF  THE  TELECiRAM  IX  THE  KAISER'S  OWN 
HANDWRITING  WHICH  HE  GAVE  AMBASSADOR  GERARD  TO 
CABLE  TO   PRESIDENT   WILSON    (SEE  PAGE   1 48) 

313 


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314 


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318 


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FAC-SIMILE  OF  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  ZIMMERMAN'S  RE- 
QUEST TO  AMBASSADOR  GFJIARD  TO  CALL,  I.V  ORDER  TO 
RECEIVE  THE  ANNOUNCEMENT  OF  RUTHLESS  SUBMARINE 
WARFARE    AGAINST   THE    ALLIES 

319 


Kauffahrteischiffe  beim  Ausbruch 
der  Feindseligkei\,en  fi'nden  auf 
die  beiderseitigen  Kauffahrtei' 
schiffe  und  deren  Ladungen  An- 
wendung, 

>  Die  beseichneten  Schiffe 
dUrfen  sum.  Auslaufen  aus  dem 
Hafen  nur  gegwungen  werden,  wenn 
ihnen  gieichzeitig  eiQ  von  den 
sdmtlichen  feindlichen  Seewdch- 
ten  als  verbindlich  anerkannler 
Passierschetn  nach  einem  Hafen 
dea  eigenen  Oder  etnea  verbiin' 
deten  landed  Oder    nach  einem 
anderen  Hafen  dea  Aufenthalte^ 
landes  angeboten  wirdt 

Arttkel  8, 
Die  Beatinumngen  dea  Qrit- 
ten  Kapitela  dea  elf  ten  Haager 
Abkommens  iiber  gewisse  Beschron- 
kungen     in  der  Auaiibung  dea 
Beuterechts  tm  Seekrieg  finden 
auf  den  Kapitan,  die  Offlztere 
und  die  iiitglieder  der  Mamt" 
achaft  der  im  Artikel  7  be- 
seichneten  aoioie  der  tm.  Loufe 
einea 


at  outbreak  of  hoatiHtiea  ahall 
apply  to  the  merchant  veasela  of 
either  party  and  their  cargo. 


The  aforesaid  ships  may  not 
be  forced  to  leave  port  unleaa 
at  the  same  time  they  be  given 
a  pass  recognized  as  binding 
by  all  the  enemy  seapowera  to  a 
home  port  or  a  port  of  an  allied 
country  or  to  another  port  of 
the  country  in  which  the  ship  ' 
happens  to  be» 


Article  8. 
The  regulations  of  chapter 
3  of  the  eleventh  Hague  Conven- 
tion relative  to  certain  restriC» 
tions  In  the  exercise  of  the 
right  of  capture  in  maritime  war 
ahall  apply  to  the  captatna,of-' 
ficera  and  membera  of  the  crewa 
of  merchant  ahtpa   specified  in 
article  7  and  of  aUch  merchant 

ahtpa 


320 


ttnea  etwaigtn  Kriegea  weggenom- 
menen  Kauffahrteischiffe  Anwen- 
dung. 

ArtikeJ   9. 
Dteae  Vgrattindtgung  er- 
atreckt  sich  ouch  auf  die  Ko- 
lonten  und  aonatigen  ouawHrti- 
gen  Btaitaungen  der  bet  den  Tel- 
le, 


ehtpa   that  may  be  captuned  tn 
the  course  of  a  possible  war. 

Article  9. 
This  agreement   shall   apply 
also  to  the  colonies  and  other 
foreign  possessions  of  either 
party. 


Berlin,  den        Fabruar  1917. 


Berlin,  February 


1917, 


A  REPRODUCTION  OF  A  PORTION  OF  THF.  REMODF.LKD  DRAFT  OP 
THi:  TRKATY  OF  I-QQ  BETWKEN  THK  UNITKD  STATES  AND 
PRUSSIA,  WHICH  A.MBASSADdR  IIERARD  WAS  ASKEI)  TO  SIGN 
WHEN  LEAVING  GERMANY  AFTER  DIPLOMATIC  RELATIONS 
HAD    BEEN    SEVERED 


J  I 


Jji 


r 


dt0  oantB  Bertchterstattung  Uber  den  Idfgian 
Luftangriff     seitena  der  Snglander  hat  sic^t  wie  geroohntl 
daraiif  besQhranHtt   die  Ublich^  Anzahl  von  Uenachenlehen 
al9  e'inMigs  Opfer  dea  Angriffa  ans-MJeHen  isnd  die  materiel- 
len  Schdden  ala  v&llig  hela^loa  hinMustellen       A21e  Be- 
mOfiiuyjent  durcft  ^oeitgohende  AhaperrungamaQnahnen  and  ©»*- 
beliB%g  der  Berichteratattwig  die  tatadchlich  verursachten 
Schdden  der  Offentlichheit  vorMuenthalten*   aind  auch  die- 
aea  ital  erfolgloa  gebliebert       Seratdrungeni   wie  aie  nament' 
lich  der  lots'te  Angriff  in  Oefolge  gehatt  hat,   lassen  aicfi 
aiif  die  Fauer  eh-jn  nicht  verachleiern.     Der  ganne  Uafang 
49P~^s^ir~  o^fuse-i^fanj-  der  Sch&ten  JdSfi^  aicfi  swar  nooh  nicht 
im  Sntfomteaten  Uberaehent   doch  gen&gt  daa->   waa  biahsr 
ttehnnnv  geworden  istt   rfullauff   wr*  «i*  erXennent   daB  dar 
Luftangriff.  vor^  23. /l4.  X.  alle  hisherigen  an  Wirtfung  w6it- 
jnk3  dbertroffen  ftctt, 

Sa  wurden  erfolgreich  beworfen. 

-f    Die  Londoner  ffafenanlaaen  (die  aogenannten  Bocha) 
unS  ihre  anliegenderi  Stadtteile_ 

Jn  den  Saat  Jj^dia  Dochs  brannte  ein  groSer  Bchv^ 
pent  der  xim  Tsil  mtniiion  ur»d  and  area  Kriegamaterial  ant- 
hieltt   vollatdndig  nieder^ 

Jn  den  J*Q^^onM2ihM,  I'-'i^rdsn  die  gaiaaT^em  und 
Lag  erhiv^ser  auf  -jie  fteStrecWsn  ni&iisraelegt^  Mehrere  Schif 
fewurden  getroffen*  ejsa  leil  v&llig  vemichiet 

Jn  den  Victoria  VocJis  geriet  ein  groBer  Bavm^ 
wollapeicher  in  Brand  'iJM  wu^rdavdllig  xeratOrt^ 

Die  in  der  ^dhe  der  Docha  galegen&i  StraBen* 
inabeaondera  die  St  Gsorge  Street  \md  die  Lenan  Street 
haben  schiaer  gelitton,  , 

S-)  P.ie.Oify  und  das  Sattiingsviertel  sind  Kit 
hesondera  guteviSrfoTge  angegr^JJenworaenT 

i/nabeaondere  warden  »i#  Bomten  heJegt 

Der  9tv  ifeaehlitgen  veraehens  Sower  nebat  fowerbr&ctce* 

die  Chancery  Lane»       \ 

die  Liveryul  Street/       Jn  diesen  StraBen  aind  xahl" 

die  iiorgave  Street*     \   reicho  Hdaer  zerstdrt  vH>rdenr 

ate  Binkopsgate?  (   xua  Toil  ganxe  ^i-jtaerblocHo, 

fiio  Altgate,  \ 

die  Minorioa-  J 

Jn  Mnxelnan- 

Die  South  Weatem  Bank  brannte  bia  uuf  die  Qrund 
Mauem  nieder,     Srhshliche  Summen  an  3eld  itnd  Pertpapiereh 
aollen  vemichtet  loordsn  aein.   JTnter  den  Srunv.em  'usitrde 
nocf*  tagelang  n<3cH  Oeld  vs^d  Papisren  geaucht      A'jsch  ein9 

Filiale  der  London  Banfs  aitrd/f  mngsdschart ' 

♦ 

JH  Jeit-jngspiert^l  .lourde  das  ^ebdude  der  UoTfiing 
Poat  beaondera  achwer  beschadigt- 

Per  Uhtergrund^  and  Jiaenbahnbetrieb  durch  Lou 
don  auBte  infolge  von  SeratOryeigen  tailweiae  eingestellt 
teerden, 

322 


Vorcrte 

^'^  "^JS^frSfel   sind  ecHwars  SoscMtHaimgem  angorich- 
tet  uforamo     Xin  Teil  gans  n«uer  2taBChin9n  und  Sinricfttun 
gen  <a*  vemichte^  wordan 

^      "Eine'ktterie  Kit  Scheinwerfem,   von  Ser  die 
Laftschiffe  hsfxirjgs  Feuer  befiommm  hatten^    wurde  nit  Bon- 
hen  t  el  eat  ^jnd  z-^  Sckmeigen  gsbracht.     Pie  Scheinaarfor 
frloschen  xia^  Tail   wimittelbar  nac'n  den  ersten  BoTioenwur- 

3  )  Hanpton 

"TTTTuHo-  und  Kf-aftstation  wurde  l>evorfen,  Bei 
der  o^ten  Beobacht'M.gsnSglichKeit  vurden  gute  Treffergeh- 
ntsse  featgestellt 

4  )  croud  or  .     sbeagnfen^ 

Sa  w^rde  einevneihe  groBsr  fabrihanlagenYund 
jtehrere  groBe  Brands  beobacfitet 

S)  Kenti3tom     (Jn  Kordsn  Londona   )  ^^^^ 

Eier  iDurde  eine  beaondera  atarJte  Scfteinwer^fer- 
batterie  auagiebig  juit  Bomben  belegt  und  MiX^reiche  Iroffr 
beobachtet.     Nach  einea  nittm  in  der  Batterie  gelegenen 
treffer  erloach  sofort  eine  Rei^e  von  Scheinwerfern 


c»  a  Q]  <% 

»r     o  «*' 

O  k«0 

3  «*      •< 

a  Co  Co  o 
a  O  O  ir 
•   O  Q  *♦ 

<&  3  Q  Ka 

3      *•* 

ft  t 


I  a  than  warden  qroBe  Fabriff-md 
fa  fionnte  aehr  guter  Erfolg 


6.  )  Jn  l£sM*sEJfSliLm 
Siaenbahnanlagen  Deworfen 
featgeatellt  werden 

7  )  Jvatvic^^  _ 

Ja  vrjrde  eine  Batterie  beworfen,   doren  Feiter 
nach  icentgen  ^onbenitnirfen  r.sr/tlich  acnicdcfier  vJrda 

Dti^t  L'j'ftBCMffs  vjurden  ad*irand  aea  ganxen  An-- 
griffs  anBerordentltch  heftig  b^achoas^n       Aua  alien  faiien 
Lon^thna  hagelte  ea  Schrsynslls  und  Bprenggraruiten,     4  Plug- 
zeuge  be^Hiiten  sichf   die  Abisehr  der  Laftachiffe  sn  i^ter- 
atatnen.   ohne  jadueden  Srfclg       Sahllose  Schein>crfer  be- 
Jeuc*it0ten  aus  alien  atadtteilen  die  Luftachiffe  taghell . 
Stns  der  Luftachiffe  TMhsu  aich  die  Seitr    die  Scf^einwerfar 
xu  siPilm,     S3  sdhlte  Uber  36       Pie  Snglander  warden  aicH 
unter  dieasn  U^-avanden  nicht  dardber  beMaaen  AUrfim,   wenn 
uir  ihre  Kapitale  als  einen  a-JBerordentlich  gut  befeatig-r 
tan  Plats  onaehen  und  dement aprechend  behanieln. 


A  FAC-SIMILF.  RF.PRODCCTION  OF  A  Ml'I.Tir.RArH  SFT  OF 
INSTRL'CTIONS  SKNT  OUT  BY  THE  GERMAN  TKI-SS  HIREAU 
TO  THE  NEWSPAPERS  FOR  THE  PIRPOSE  OF  ENAHLIM.  THEM 
TO  WRITE  UP  THE  LATEST  ZEPPELIN  RAID  ON  LONDON.  THE 
INSTRUCTIONS  WARN  THEM  THAT  THEIR  ACCOUNTS  MUST 
NOT  READ  LIKE  A  REPRINT,  BUT  MUST  SEEM  TO  HAVE  BEEN 
WRITTEN    INDEPENDENTLY 


323 


324 


mut  m  Ut  Sett 

glugWdttcr  1914  Don  €rnjl  Siffaucr 

*    Die  ^Afftc  bc^  SKeinertrag^  ifl  fuc  bie  ^ricgcrttjaifcn  bejTimmt.    * 

\tr|lC6   .Omit  Unb  ttjarb  mir  nicfct  flfflfbtn,  tnitjufcfitagtn, 

©ftDfdt  unb  Sibtl  in  (hicmtntfr  ^anb, 
©fi  mir  PfrgSnnf,  fin  fimpffnb  2Bcrt  ju  fajen. 
O  nimm  auch  biffe  ©ate  an,  mtin  2ttnb! 

Bum  &ck\t 

ei  fli(t  fn  bicfcm  ^ricge  nic^t  nur  ©ro§macf)t  unb  ^o:ma6)t,  ni(^f  nut 
©cbictc  utiD  ^of)fcnf]ationcn,  nic^f  tiuc  S;)CinM  unb  ©icbelung;  c^  gift 
?5c)lant)  unb  2)aiicc  in  cinigcn  Q3o(fc^,  'JBafjrung  unb  '^Birfung  bcr  bcuffc^cn 
Sultur,  bic  cbcn  in  cine  ncue  ^^afc  eoUcr  ^ricbfraft  unb  ^u\ic  \wd)i.  2)icfcc 
^rieg  cerfdirt  flcf)  mit  0ci(lc,  unb  ttjicbcnini:  bic  ©cilice  waffncn  fief).  Sec  ©ci|l 
ber  QSolf^cit,  au^  grower  ©cfc^id)fc  ^cr,  in  grofjc  ©cfct)ic^te  hin,  bU\\\  ubcc  ben 
5)?a(rcn,  ubcr  ben  "SJaffcn  biefcc  3cit.  Unb  i)!  f)cutc  auci)  ba^  "JBore  gering  f)intet 
ber  ^at,  ju  jcg(icf)cr  gcit  i(l  ba^  "^Bort  »crrucr;t,  ic\i  nic^t  fc^lagcnbc^  ^crj  unb 
gteifenbe  "^dnbc  l^at:  in  fo(cI;cm  ©inn  n?oIIcn  bicfc  ^or(c  niit  '[Oanb  flnfe^en. 

C[Sa^  frf)icrf  un^  KujTc  unb  granjof, 
gc^ug  wider  ed^ug  unD  €(op  urn  etop! 
9Bir  lictcn  fie  nidjt, 
2Bit  f)a(rcn  (ic  nicfjt, 

9Bir  fd^u^cn  2Bcid;fct  unb  SBa^aaupa^,  -• 
5Bir  f)abcn  nur  cincn  cinjigcn  i^af, 
?fflir  licbfti  ocrcinf,  luir  fjalJon  ocrcinf, 
2Bir  f>atcn  nur  cincn  cinjigcn  gcinb: 

Sen  i()r  oUe  wiff,  ben  i^r  aUc  wigf, 

(Er  fi$t  gcbucft  ()intcr  bcr  graucn  Jluf, 

Sell  3Rcib,  t>cU  2But,  »oU  ©c^dnif,  eoU  2i(T, 

Surd;  SBaffcr  gctrcnnf,  bic  finb  biifcr  ali  SfhK. 

9Bir  woUcn  (rctcn  in  cin  (3crid}f, 

Cincn  edjnjur  ju  fc^worcn,  ©cfid^f  in  (Sffid>f, 


FIRST   PAGE   OF    A    PAMPHI.KT    FUR    PROPAGANIIA    PLRPOSF.S,    l^^ 
WHICH   WIDE  PUBLICITY   WAS  GIVEN   TO  LISSAUER'S  FAMOUS 

"hymn  of  hate" 

325 


^m  SEflititoo^;  ien  4.  ^ebtunt  b.  ^.,  tvirb  bei  ^^rcu  Jtaiferltc^en 
unb  Jtoiiiglic^cu  3J?ajcftatcn  im  SBci^en  SaaU  bc'j  JlonigUc^cn  <Sc^Ioffc3  ^krfclDft  ciit 
f&aii  ftattfinbeii,  ju  luclc^em  bie  ©inrabuiujcn  burc^  bie  §offouricre  unb  biird^  ^axkn  crfolgcit.*) 

2)ic  Saiiicn  fifdjcincii  in  longcn  cu>3gcfd]nittcnen  ^Icibcvn  ((etiie  t)iei'C(figett  21u§j 
fi^iiitte  iiiib  fetiic  (angctt  3Cenitc()/  mit  [;etlcn  @(ace:,Oanbfd^ur;eii,  bie  .§eiTcti  uom  ^iuit 
in  @ala  init  iucifjcn  Uiiterf(eibcrn  (,Qniel;o[en,  ©c(;u^e  unb  ©Irunipfc),  bie  §errcn  l)oni  3)Jilitiir 
ini  ^ofboK-'Slnjuge,  mit  Dibenybanb. 

Sicjenigcn  §cvi'en,  luelcf/ofjur  Slnlcgung  einec  Uiiifovni  nid;t  bcvedjtigt  finb  unb  bcuinad; 
fiii()ci-  im  fdjiiHirjen  grad,  unb  luci^ev  5?raluatte  er[c^ienen,  fjabcn  nmimcf;r  bie  ii3cfu9niy,  bn5 
vorgcjc^ricOcnc  .poftlcib  ju  tvagcn. 

gfir  bie  2IHer(;od)[teu  unb  §5d;ften  ^eirfdjaften  ift  bie  2(nfa(;vt  flcgcit  8'/-  \\i)V 
Dom  Suftgavton  Ijcr  burdj  "^^orfaf  "^^r.  5  6ei  ber  SBcnbcItveppe  unb  bie  ii>criamiii(tiit()  im 
Jlurfiirftcnjimmer. 

SDie  Dbcvftcn  §of--,  bie  DOev=§of--,  bie  S3ijc=D(Jcv=§of=  uiib  bie  §of=6(/aigcn,  bie  ©eneraU 
2lbjutantcn,  bie  ©cneiak  unb  Stbmirafe  a  la  suite  unb  bie  S'ti'iS'-'^  =  ^Ibjutantcn  ©einev  3J{ajcft»\t, 
ber  3)iinif(cr  bc-3  ^oniglidjcn  $Qufc§  unb  ber  ©e^cime  ^abincttyvat,  foluie  bie  ©efotgc  bcv 
2tl(cr^0d;ften  unb  ber  §bd;|'tcn  |)eiTfd;aften  ner;nien  biefclbe  3(ufat;vt  unb  berfammelii  fic§  uiii 
8'/4  \U)v  im  J^Dnifjf^jimmer;  bie  Somen  Irftcn  in  bje  boifierte  ©nteric  ein. 

2lUe  anberen  ®nfte  finb  jn  8  Itl^t  cingclabcn. 

®ie  SSorfrtfjrt  ift: 

fur  bie  {^iivften,  bie  3Jiitglicbcr  be-S  biplomatifdjen  6orp>3  unb  bie  ®i-jc((enjen=S)amcn 
unb  §enen  Uom  Suftgnrten  fjer  buid;  '5:'*ortrtf  '^U.  5  hd  ber  3Benbcnie').4H', 

fur  bie  2)amen  —  folucit  fie  uidjt  ju  ben  Uorfteljenb  Ocjeidjiictcn  ©ciftcn  ge[;oreu  — 
unb  bie  fie  begleitcnbcn  §crrcn  Dom  Suftgarten  fjcr  im  '^i'orfrtr  ^r.  4,  an  ber 
2;^eatertreppe,  lion  \vo  ber  Gintritt  burd;  icn  5?apitcl--SaaI  genonnncn  luirb,  unb 

fiir  bie  anberen  ^erren  l)om  QMi  unb  -Sfiilitnr  toon  ber  Sd)[ofifreif;cit  f;cr  burf(> 
^ortol  '^ir.  3  bci  ber  gegeniiOer  ber  2Bad;e  belegencn  ^oKcntrcppe  (GintriU 
burc^  bie  33ilber=(53alcrie). 

$ie  ^etfamiiiTiiitt)  ift: 

filr  bie  ^rin^en  unb  ^rinjeffinnen  au§  fouberanen  neufiirftlid;en  §nufern, 
famtlidje  2)nmen,  bie  GH'S  ber  fiuftlid)en  unb  euemaia  rcid;gftnnbifd;eii 
graf(id]en  $aufer,  bie  Siptomaten,  bie  Gi-jelleiijen  unb  bie  tan^enben  §eiren 
im  SBei^en  ©aale; 
bie  anberen  eingelabenen  ^erren  in  ber  2!Bci6en  =  SaaI=  unb  in  ber  SiTbcr; 
©alerie. 

2)ie  nod)  uoriiiftcUciibcn  Jnmcit  ucvfnmiiicfii  firi)  im  2(ii§bnii  bet  Sillier  =  (ynlctic  (ftii^ercS 
iliiiiiginiicngciimdj). 

•)  (£6  loiib  Jjviiigeiib  cvfndjt,  im  ^cljinl»evuufl«frtlle  Me  glUfrtflC  itiiigrlKui*  an  iaa 
(f)bcv-||ofmrtiTd)nllniitt  ednu^cit  Ittfftix  tii  luollcn. 


AN   EXCELLENT   EXAMPLE   OF  TEUTONIC   EFFICIENCY. 

MINUTE  REGULATIONS    IN    REGARD   TO   PRESENTATION    AT   COURT 


326 


Urn  IOV4  M^r  hJirb  cin  Soupcr  ftattfinben  unb  jhJOT 
im  5Dlarincfaal  unb  im  il6ni9inncn--3iniincr: 

fiir  bic  SlHcr^Dc^ftcn  unb  ^loc^ftcn  ^crr(c^aftc«, 

unb  fur  biejcnijcu  tSincjciabciicn,  bcucii  c^  Defonbci-j  aiigcfagt  locvbcii  tuirb; 

in  bcr  ©c^loarjen  3lblcr  =  i?aiiuucr  unb  ber  SRoteii  6cmmct  =  Jlammer: 

•fflt  bie  ^offtaatcn; 

im  (SJnrbC'J  bu  GorV'-3  =  Saalc  inib  ben  anlicgcnbcn  SJatimcn: 
ffu'  bic  tanjciibcu  2)anien  unb  ^crrcn  unb 
al(e  einjclncn  jiincjcrcn  ^civni; 

(3uganij  cine  2ieY\>i  ticfci-  iitu-v  bic  "ffieiijc  £aal  =  2;repj)c) 

un  avauii|([/ii)eii]i[c(;en  ©.aal,  in  bcv  33raunfc^h)eigifc^en  ©alertc,  in  bnr  93raiin« 
fdjlueigifcticn  .Rnninicr,  in  ben  i^onigin  =  (£Iifabet^--S^annnein  unb  sSlBo^nung 
unb  im  G(ifabetl;--®aal: 

fflr  bie  aujjcrbent  Gingclabcncn. 

©nbe  bed  geftcd  QCfjcit  12  Va  U^r. 

S)if  ^(bfrt^ct  i|t  nadf  "^Ba^t  hd  bci-  SBcnbchvopvc,  obcv  im  ^orfaf  ^r.  4  bn  "btr 

2'^catertrcpVf  in  bcr  3iid;tnnii  mdj  bcm  i.'nj'tijavten,  obcr  l^on  bcv  33ifbcr--6Jalme  anS  flficr  bie 
jpettcntre^V*;  l>ur<9  ^ottdf  ^r.  3  nac(;  bcr  6ct,ito^frci^eit. 

Berlin,  ben  31.  ^ammr  1914. 

Dcr  ©bcr-fiof'-  unt>  f^aus'^TTarfdjcjQ^ 


Die  jiir  8lbI)oIiing  toniincnbcn  ^^^<\,yn  bflrfcit  iiiir  uoiii  ^d)lo^plai(  ^tt  \>\ndf  bit  ^ortafe  I  nnb  II 

ill  bie  ^djfp^^dfe  ciiifnf^rcit. 


327 


§j^x$%mt  ^un  ~;;»^]et0er 


Deut|(i|lanii0  Ie|te$  Bott  an  Bu6Ia»D« 


Ao4  rinraar,  t1)t  bit  SJofffn  Iprtc^n, 
VtM  Snittf^anb  bfm  rutHldKn  TltldK  ouf 
Idiu  ft«flu»torbtnjn9  Brob'ni'''fl  'int 
ft"*!  Srili.  Pd)  ju  b*rinn*n  unfi  bit 
trobmbf  Bola(tTopt)(  abjuisfnbtn.  Gint 
|o*bfn  fr(:()lertfn»  Sonbtrousflobf  bfr 
fllrrbbtutl^n  ttUB»m(infn  3nluiig  brmflt 
folgrrUM  boIbflmllid](,  fur  bit  3rurltl< 
lung   bn   augtnblitflti^n   £og<   ^D4Di<Q> 

U:*  niuttUune: 


He  Mf  timn  Qia(4  »<« 
featn  fcTH  ■■tcruHHcac  Crralil* 
Ua«*flrMt  »••  »CT  ri|flf4ni  WtsteraHfl 
%r4  •OaraeUt  VtsUIn«ilr»8  *"  ru|< 
VMn  Mtmtt  KKk  Vtulu  t'Kdrl  tratbcn 
!«.  «■!  Ml  lUtinvM  Cdut  Sn«t(fai  bc4 
ft«H(v«  tCBic  la  CL  fktcr«kito 
Mm  UfUi.  »•»  kic  kcalldic  m». 
ftllBa^ait    l«a««|(4t    lic^l. 


t«l> 


ft«» 


«tlt«a|iB  cliRtlfl  BKk  klttfibcc 
ff4a«ftC|llM«lcettfitaaa  tb^iht. 
•Ui«trtri«  m  aa  kle  fraaiSflfdie 
•  cilffsaat  «i»  llafta«c  fl»(t 
Urc  «allaatlai  ffaOc  e1ar«  btattdi. 
nlRMca  Brlrflc«  glri^ttt  tovrften. 

«■  bcltn  aDtil(|rtii  &bni|  frat  bet  J^ailct 
•fkaboi  yhiAl.  el*  ci  lu  bn  m  unicicc  ccdcn 
6llisait«flab<  MieiltnilidiKn  *1ii|p[adK  an  bit 
Voiriaicngt  Kmc  immrr  nod)  tiidit  abgtLKotfitrcn 
Vtaukvn^tM  tiBabfUf,  bii  QUfgnrt  jum  C<n((hfn 
lu  biinv"-  0*  ■<ib  t'A  nunvtEic  tn  turirticc 
Butt  rRlt4w>b<ii.  Ob  »u^an»  InAMftlig  bin 
SctilntQ  ^(aultnidiwettn  obct  otfU  bit  flticAlc 
BMbwvna  Xtuiiftianbt  (ijuani  unb  feme 
Pttfuir"  nBiuOm  *i[b. 

Oes  gonfli((5. 


nuUt  irltfffinrii.  bit  Voiganot  bit  ju  bn 
Vatt^Mk  r^^bci  bobtu.  (X  |tM«t  toifatt 
•lat    flCMuiic    alLtnmo^ioe  ^rlirlluPQ  1/ 

•fU  3ahTta  W1  C(|ictTci4>UR^iTi  (irfjcn 


:iT«t 


xotani  hn  tuMUUbcn  Ccnteikik  Ccitcii 
Ba^iia*  hwibnltn.  fic  Qkninitun^  t 
•ckicU  Ml  na  aitKiloaiK  >l  ^r  l(.1>. 
VdUtJ.  ^Ktc  cIabM  boMi  out  ben  7  u  <f  r 
HakldHkC  icAnrn  ^  rona<n.  Id  bcm  C^i 
ten.  tot  «i  SluVdiibt  5ul^bc  Iti.  fttn  )ub|i 
Mm  Oattta  Icnra  €4nik  ^a  Iciboi  li 
<#rtaatni  iH  biaidi  '^al^onb4  Armuliungni  i 
»«»b  bet  Vartoottaitru  ji,  t.ar> 
tXinV».  RshiHiifl  t]rv^<'•  »«<tfn  '2if  flic 
fr<1te  9ro»a«aaba  ilt  tiflrTl-^,^  in  bft  i!  t  oi 
bftai    bit    »tl{ttC.<ljr|d).unoai.| 


ttionfotoctCanb  (cintc  «cmab' 
[in   gt(D  fiftMtaeltdtn. 

Xit  CciUtttuIi.UngQti[*C  XRonatrfi't  (nliAIoH 
14  bititm,  fltflf"  'flfcn  «t(lonb  alt  Otohirjtfir 
fltci4l(ltn  b(:bi((f|fn|4(n  Itfibtn  fin  Ontt  ju 
mo4irt.  C«  muhlt  lt4  bobti  (tjtbfn.  ob  flufc. 
lo  nb  Ulfa4li4  bte  Dtellc  btt  ^f 
|d)u»ctl  bet  leuhflamtn  bti  rf)ttn  auf 
dnltimmttuna  btl  edtonbcl  bei 
Otltrctei<!)i[4  •  UngatM^tn  J»on. 
0i4ic  fitci4tfltn  atitttbunfltn  iunfijufufiKn 
BiDfr*  mar.  ^n  bitlem  SoOe  fam  e  t  n  C  t  6  t  n  *- 

bri  ung((cf)ioa4lc  ^tjlanb  btt  unl  ettburrarirn 
Eonot^.t.  bcdtn  »■{  gut  Orf)aUuii8  uiifcitt  (ift- 
nrn  «io(|ii)a(l|[|itQunQ  lamilltn  bet  Orgntt  Mr 
Clli^nb  ffint  btbutftn, 

tturWanh  ^il  [i4  b«n  bomfifttin  au|  itr 
etuntpund  onltQt.  bof)  kit  ?lultinanbil< 
Itbun0  mil  Sttbifn  art  aaerttflmlidl 
[n,  bn  nui  CeHttit  i4  •  Unjam  urb 
S  f  I  b  1 1  n  ongtV-  Unta  SBoljtunfl  b^tl.  J 
bpunfltl   babrn   ton   si  1 1    bti    ati^lfn 


OlflQ 


Ctlur 


fi  f]  u  n  Q 


mf     9t«a 


ci4t(i  I 


i4-Un(jotn  gob  bircgu  bit  ©anbtjabf.  m- 
:>cm  tl  b(n  V?a4ltn  R>itbtit)ol(  tiriattt.  ba(t  tC 
au|  ttint  Ctobttunfltn  aufgtfx  unb  btn 
Ititirot.artn  TJtItanb  <b<ibitni 
J» '  4 1  o  n  I  o  It  t  n  ttotlf.  Xif(f  Gtlloiuhfltn  l.iib 
tiamtnMi4  in5(ltt«bui(j  Aiil  Wa*. 
briFtf  jur  Strnlni#  8tb[Q4l  tootbcn 
Unftttm  •8unb((9trof(fn  ^ab(n  aiit  gftalcn,  (cSr* 
imi  bfi  SSuibc  btc  «?rne[4<t  Micinbaic  Qnt. 
fltpfnttrtnmtn  ju  jcpcu.  Onitt(orbnt  babm  idic 
oMtn  englMAtn,  ou|  H'tnTiitiluiig  jwifAtn 
5Bitn  unb  13(lti*6uta  Ijin.4itltnbcii  e4(>licn 
Inlf  I(i4c    ^anb    qtlititfi. 

lOtteil*  om  25  3uli  rofltn  «uetrral|igc  StJ. 
l.un(Knub«tu||i|4(  M  uft  u  itge  n  sot.  Sie 
Ktonlo^ttn  bit  bcul|4(  Jtcgittung,  am  gr(i4<n 
lagt  unj*i  ttntuKt  Oflonunfl,  ba|j  Of(ltt((i4' 
Ungoin  btn  IMlonb  6t[bi(n(  nitftl  ania|t(n  rroUi, 

i.f4t  3Sflbnaf,n:(n  »u^ranb<  m  u  Ij- 
Un  unl  Aa  <U<  gr  n  tn  a  h,  r  g  ,  1  n  jmu,. 
gtn.  I.trt  mub.tn.nbti  Wob.lil.tiurf, 
btr  3  I  met  bcltcka.  '£>(  2IUbilil<(  t  uig 
abtt  btbtuie  btri  fliwg.  3i3u  lanm.n 
i»4t  anncfkATcn.  bob '^"Ijlanb  «nni  (uioph- 
l*(n  ftiitg  tfitfttltln  rooOt  "Im  tid4|ifi<  2nac 
(itlarlc  b(i  luliUdif  0  t  >  (  a^  n' <  ■<  <  li  c  t 
urtrtm  SUililaialia^'.  t»  t(.  no4  It.nt  ffJob  !■ 
in<i4unglotb((  cigongrn,  Itm  *4Uib  outgfhei'". 
Ic.n  Mfltrtiil  tirotjagtn.  Ul  reuiOtn  Ub.fll-iJi 
Boibfitilwbe  JRaljitgrln  gcliottdt.  fficiin  Ctlitf 
tc411rgatu  bic  (C[I»f4(  Ounjc  ub<rtl4it«f. 
nuiitn  b>(  suf  CrHcrttiA'Ui'gatn  gtt(4l(t<>i 
Sttlilaibtjirfc     oiebilifitii. 


I14c 


Tttonl  Iitgcpbfd.  9tbo4  lit^n 
Jdiiigr  3lB4ti4'tit  14«n  ia  bu*  podii'cn  Zigrn 
lontn  3ref Htl.  baB«n4au  6cib(uli4f" 
(H 1 1  n  j  t  bit  militarildicn  Cotbtutlungrn  Buh- 
lanbt  iRi  mUoi  ChiBgc  iMttH.  Z't  SVtlbungcn 
fiiiiobet  Ijault.-n  fi*.  Ziaiflxn  vuittn  nD.i| 
dBi  ;0.  coil  bun  lululArn  (b:r^CfaI|iab;«fi<l 
unitini  SRiI<laiatla4*  tmcul  l>ciuli'||(nbc  (it- 
l^aiurgtn  VBi^bttt.  bit  bit  SUirinltfngfn  b(4 
)inig(miniif{il  all  iie4  boU  ju  itttl  bc|t(l]Ciib 


Bffl  M.  5uli  gtng  tin 

Teleqtamm  bts  ^aren 

an  ben  floiltt  (rn.  tn  rot[4tm  et  bit  InftaaklAC 
©Itle  aualpin*.  bet  ftoiltr  migc  itim  in  biclcm 
to  rrntlen  flufltntlirf  (jerfen.  Gt  bilte  if],.,  um' 
btni  Ungliji  f.nc«  euroiwiffttn  HiirotS  Dotju- 
btugtn.  oOttf  ihm  ntd(|li4e  ju  tun,  um  ^tn  3un> 
bf*otnoj|tn  babon  autuifjufjallfn,  guroc't  i^ 
gffitn.  «ni  ftlbcn  loge  ciroiberie 
btt  Jtatfet  in  tintm  langettn  irltijtanim, 
^<l^(  fC  tie  aufgnbe  be*  OctmuiltO 
flut  btn  3ppfU  on  l<int  3icun6f4QH 
unb  ©lift  betfiltoiUifl  ubtrnommcn  riabe.  Ttm. 
t<it|Pic4rnb  reuibc  lofarl  <1rc  kl»Iom«ri|(^c 
9C(H0R  in  CDIcR  nnoclttlrt.  mihttnb  bitit  "n 
Qkinge  wot.  [ic|  bit  cifiaicQc  ?(a4ti4l  e<n.  Sib 
Jluferanb  gegcft   Cf-itittiA-Ungotn 


ftn.fft  btn  gatcn  m  t.nrm  mtiicrtn  Idtotamra 
Niroul  bill,  bof)  bu(4  bic  iu||i|dic  aHobilifitiung 
erfltn  0tlrei(ti4-Unflatn  (tint  out  Sillen 


Ut:ni  bitic  Ocimii;.'une;[iottdi[oge  foBie 
bculc  in  ZJitn  bic  C'nli4tibung  \a2tti.  ^cOi 
broot  lit  titt.  cthifll  bic  bcuiJ4c  Ttcgittung  bit 
oltijicQe  JiaOitidft.  ia%  bti  ■9Iobi(ina4uno4btt(hI 
lut  bit  flf|amf(  iujiii<iic  Wtmce  unl  groilc  ft- 
ganocn  |ei.  Satauj  itAitlc  bri  fliuti  cm  Irplrc 
XtUaiamm  an  6«n  i"""-  *"  ^tm  ct  bttooihob. 
ball  Sic  lOtioni  nor  rung  fuc  bif  £i4ci'kiI  be; 
5t(i4c«  ifin  ju  btltiifiDtn  JUnjj.-rgtln  jmingr,  Cr 
[tl  mil  (cuicn  'Bcmuhiinflcn  um  fl-c  Ui'i'illutio  b'* 
miiiiifti(n#  bid  an  bie  <hib"lic  Wttnjt  bt6  SBon- 
li4cn  grgongen.  Vtidit  ti  liagc  bir  Vtianiicof 
lung  tm  iai  Unfitif.  bo*  \ttt\  bcr  ^tlt  bifffic.  Ci 
babe  bic  H'^ui'Drrfi'^I'  fuE  ^CIt  3a(CR  unb  iai 
iuifii<ti(  mcidi  lifii  ircii  c'h""t"-     Tf   3"C^(. 


luh'io: 


luflO. 


kulr4l'ir 


Dalircnk  alfe  bic  ktut|d)(  91«olccuRe  auf 

(«rtiidj(n  gtafilanba  VcimUlcUt.  aaatU 
Slubtinb  (tint  gcioinlcn  iltt.irr..|le  ir.ob.I 
unb  fctbtchtt  bomil  bit  3id)ttlr«n  b.->>  ICcul. 
fditn  Sltlrlfftf.  bon  btn  bis  j^xi  bic\ci  Zlunbt 
nod)  tcinttlct  auhmcWolinHrfK  aiilf 
larlMc  •JRafirtgtln   crnrilttn   iDortn. 

Zo  lit.  nidil  bon  Tt»i|rt|lanb  btcbfl. 
Rtrulrn,  ftitlmchr  ttibtr  Sen  buirti  ait  lot 
btwa^rlcn  TtftUti  rcuit<lila)ibd.  b;r  Tfjorn* 
fcllrf  (iffoBimttr,  b(i  bit  CJtlirmatljl 
Xriilt(*llanbe  ea|  bci  Tim  tufl. 

3ac  Srilfitung  Des 

Ktlegsjuffnn&M. 

Oie  hitgttiUrf"  Oi   "       ■  (.  .  !c- 

Oj7.,''3i  flrMfl  m'  i  ,'~-'-  V    ',■',',..  n ",  P;.',',,. 
flrmobBom  (ta.ttt  bo*  -Nciarn.  i>.<i  nrNU-fc'iu- 
imrb  cttlail 
lou.     ttonifl 
Santiii  (irliotfci 
-     ■      JVnfc.tt        . 
I II  ll  I  "  n  0      b 
ibmtCit 
bmungcn 


TfltKin    |ut    ^i    IioniQiti4 


Zitlr    JVnfcitod 


tenb  in  fiu^ettn  ftrle^f r  sun&AH  nVt  Wc  €i4<» 
titil  bet  Oitnibcditte  bcbiolil  mit.  ifl  bet  ktai 
eianbe     btc     mobtfntn     ffcita*lt4n>l 


;  ©i4er 


1   >' 


1  flanbt 


Inricbti.   DOE   aOtm    intclgi:    btc   Qnltsiftuna   bt« 

i(n#.  Q»  Iitgt  bie  (B^ioot  nfrfit.  b.ift  unmilltl> 
bar  bet  9utl'[u4  btr  gti>ibS(Ii(iftittn  Im  Qn' 
Kttn  btO  Canbtt  mertDuIlc  JtunffbaaUn, 
^iltnltobncii.  Stutfen.  Statlonin 
Ut  brofitlofe  Xdegt.pbie,  £«(!- 
fUallen      unb     nnbctc     anloQcn,     bi.: 


'iOcbtulung  (in 
"eVn.Ke 


CaiibetDerleibifluii( 


Itnttt    B 
Xit  foifllai 


fliftkltr 

~    I- 


tbcrcilungtn  bti  bciodflntica  Vladit  tnuiftn  auf 
ic  SBtijc  gefiltbcrt  unb  Atgta  jc^c  nioghAc 
oiun|)t<4(tgnttQt  ffin  9[lt  itaUt  hit 
nitrd.  oUf  iMolhditn  ainti4li">a(n  mufttit 
ben    Oitnl 


:  eofljiclitflbc  dttiBoll  auf  btc 


'^tcboiinuiij  bt-f  jiTito*.)uiionbt«  aibr  gu  All  bitftn 

•nab'ui^mni  bie  rcd<tli4c  OunMage. 

^Im  £),nb[id  out  btn  Cm  It  bet  Gliinbc 
nxtb  boiouf  itttiaut  bob  bie  Vribanaunfl  be* 
flncoCiulIciibc*  uon  nOtn  ftrcittn  btc  3>f»Dllt' 
(iiun  olfl  fine  Slrttsirntl  oulfltlabt  loitb.  bit  bo • 

R  t  b  I  c  I  c  1 1 1 4  c  t  f)  c  I  Ui  I-  tnt  ^Dnail-  uim 
Ipiib  balirt  biC  boinii  uctbunbtntn  aV(4ta  un> 
Otii  tbcmu  fiCin  unb  luiUig  Iragci.  njit  I'  tin- 
miilin  inOoi>icitKtcil(Mul  unb«»ulf  I.  ■  ••K 
Uciicibinuiifl  bt»  <ltflcilanbes  t.n> 
i  r  ( t  Set  flticflS^uitonb  niiib  j.ir  nicnianb  |ub:> 
hnt  (cm.  bti  bic  2icuc  Mil.  bit  tt  btn  Caleitoiik 
I4u[::cl.  unb  bic  boi  !ZTIiliiatbckbl«t)ab(in  "[*«• 
|roQ.->.cn  ^loUniadjrcii  locrben  lo  0*^"Bbobl  ntl> 


I  4  ( a  n  f  1  isiib  jn>  [(bciinoiin.  bee  nl4t  gu  ha 


Betlobung  Des 

)i(in3cn  Kdalberf. 

:U>c  n)<i   iocL.(n  tnahun.  hot  ttdt  Ih'i'i  ■»<>>• 
truMupaatcl.  I'Ki  ^t  Vimjclkin  nsi  eel* 


Jplw'iiii    ^ir 


tic  iJalittlltf  5..I..1 


SIOc  9ih*>tlniiaitn.  iti  „9erlin(c  Sofnl-Jlnjtincrj"  Ucrtcn  nai^  Ivic  voz  in  bclictiijet  Sliijii^t  gflttid 
in  uvfctcn  fAmtlidicn  (SiptMionta  an  irbttinaun  aujgtgebni. 

A&      . . 

A    BERLIN    EXTRA.      GERMANY    DISCLAIMS   RESPONSIBILITY   FOR   THE   WAR 


328 


D515 

G.51m     Gerard  - 

1917a      Mv   four    veftr«      uc  southern  regional  library  facility 

d  r^r^S  llllill  fl  II  I"  "'  !"l  \W  I'  I  'i '  "" ' 

m  Ciermany, 

AA    000  752  264    2 


D515 

G31m 

1917a 


yNIVERSITV  of  '%\L1F0RN1A 


UBKABY 


J\iifAllerkochslenj)efrlil/]lirer  l^^i'serlidieRunJ  % 

beehrt  sich  dor  unterzsichnete Ober-Hof-und  Haus-Marschall 
^i^ne-  ^xceMnz.e^  cS(;f^cJL',^iz^  e^  '^^^ta^fufta*'^  mutter  wtp  cTffuyu^ 
_^^^!/i/:,i^  ?c<i-i^nx^.   2^ yiyutytci^  -     

zu  dem  am  Montag.den  1  Juni  191';  um   11    Uhr  Vormittagsim  Neuen  Palais  bei  Potsdam 

stattfindenden  Stiftungsfest  des  Lehr-lnfantene-Bataillons  und  zu  der  um  I  Uhr 

darauffolgenden  FruhstiJcks-Tafel  im  Muschebaale  des  Neuen  Palais 

einzuladen 

Uebcr  Aniu^pp.  slehe  belfol^^-nJe  Anjs^e  // 


f.^^i^^./^ui; 


INVITATION   TO   THE   FESTIVAL   IX    THE   NEW    PALACE   AT   POTSDAM,   JUNE   FIRST,    I914 


8,   M,    J.uHihenzollern",   dan        SJ'.Junt 


19 14. 


Seine  Ma  Jest  it  der  Kataer  und  Acini  g  lasaen   suere 
gxcellanz  '"^  Segeln  an  Sard  S.i!,J.niieteor" 

etnladen,   Sinoohiffung  am   Dienstag     den  30. Juni       3    OhrSC 
VOrm,  an  dor  BoJ«, 


Admiral, 
An 

S«tne  Excellena 
den  BotBChafter  der  Varainigten  Staaten  von  Ajrmrika 
Harm  James  W.  Oarard. 


TVVTTA^T'V    T      '  «"L  ON   S.   ■M.    T.       MI.TEOR 


^^uf;\llerhorhslenJ]efehl  Seiner  jMajeslatdes  Kaisers  und  Koni^s 

beehrt  sich  derunlerzeichneteObef-Hof-und  Haus-Marschall 

^c'i/i^  J^O'rype^  M  jfe^u^c^ 

an  Bord  S.M.Y.Hoheniollern' 


zur 


ya,rU,    i^/e.-r.-r,..',  


einzuladen. 


■.MH.*.-."*"*!' 


fm  mM/il^u4 


INVITATION  TO 


DINE  ON  THE   kaiser's  YACHT,  "hOHENZOLI.ERX.     AT   KIEL 


Sonntag,  den  28.  Juni  von  V^bis  ^  Uhr. 


am 


av 


Anzug  pp 


INVITATION  TO  THE  GARDEN  PARTY  AT  KIEL  OF  PRINCE  HENRY  OF  ^'^Y^f/Vprr, 
•-CH   WAS   GIVEN   VP  BECAUSE  OF  THE   NEWS   OF  THE   MURDER?    AT   S.^ATEVO 


I  naniMTirarinmiifciiiiiiifJTWfMii 


i»MitaaMfM»MiWMm»iMPUMWUMjajmuMuwpicp-.fl- 


